


Egao Apocalypse

by bravelove, Skarmew



Series: Egao Apocalypse [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: AU, Apocalypse, Crossover, Horror, M/M, Multi, Rebellion, Snow!, Survival, Timeline and dimension confusion, Villain Yuya, Violence, Zombies kinda sorta, a lot of people freezing!, not Arc-V accurate beyond the Synchro Friendship Games
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-09-06 14:38:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 26,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8756509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bravelove/pseuds/bravelove, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skarmew/pseuds/Skarmew
Summary: When berserk mode goes wrong, everyone suffers. The timelines are now all out of wack, series colliding with series, with Yuya at the helm of it all. With the usual protagonist for this stuff infected, it falls to Seto Kaiba to right the wrongs, fix everyone, and end Yuya's reign. Luckily he won't be alone, with help from other villains and other characters, together they might just discover a cure and maybe get a bit nicer, but I doubt that last part.





	1. Chapter 1

Seto stared at his little brother in horror. His face was changing, flattening, almost. Seto grabbed his phone from his pocket, checking a news article he’d thought was just a joke, but… no… it’s not possible! Is it…? Seto began to shake Mokuba.

 

“Mokuba! Mokuba, say something, anything!” Seto glanced back at his phone, reading the title of the article. ‘The world is ending.’ It read bluntly, and Seto began shaking. He stepped away from Mokuba.

 

“N-no…” He spoke to himself. “T-this… this can’t be happening…” Seto slowly backed away further, as Mokuba’s head fell to stare at the pavement below. Seto looked around, for someone to help, but the streets were barren. Seto remembered that the game shop Yugi lived in wasn’t too far away, and he ran as quickly as possible toward it. Seto burst into the game shop, tears welling in his eyes.

 

“YUGI! Yugi, you need to help-“ Seto cut himself off with a ragged screech, as he looked up to see that Yugi and his friends were all there, except… they seemed to be wearing… masks, of smiley faces, in particular.  Seto was frozen in horror as the ‘geek squad’ all turned their heads slowly toward him, letting out a single, eerie sound.

 

“Egao…” they moaned in a synchronized manner. Seto took a few steps backwards out the door, before breaking into a sprint. Before he knew it, at least six people… no, whatever these things are, were chasing after him, spouting out that word, over and over.

 

“Egao.”

 

After a few minutes of running, Seto leaned against a building, his breathing hard. _It… it really is the end of the world…_ he thought, staring at the unusually grey sky, Hearing the ghastly groaning creeping closer on both sides. he was ready to give up. _I guess… this is where it ends. It was a boring life, anyway._

Seto let his head drop in defeat.

 

Suddenly, he heard something else. was that… a motorcycle…?

Seto forced himself to stand on his own, and next thing he knew, he was in the arms of a knight in shining armor. Well, more like a knight in shining face-tattoos, because whoever this person was, he sure had a lot of them. Seto instinctively curled up when the motorcycle made contact with some of those… incredibly disturbing smile-things. Only after getting over the initial shock of not being essentially a zombie, Seto looked up at his savior, seeing spiky orange hair, grey eyes, and… strong arms…

the man spoke to Seto in a gentle tone.

 

“are you feeling okay?” he asked.

“ _Oh, no. I’m gay.”_ Seto said in a voice below a whisper.

“Excuse me?” the man asked, looking down at Seto for a second. “what did you say? I didn’t catch-“ he asked, before Seto cut him off.

“NOTHING.” Seto yelled, feeling his face get warmer. “I said, um, I-I'm... fine.” Seto tried to correct himself, covering his face. The man shrugged and continued to watch the road.

“That’s a relief.”

  


Seto may have fallen asleep, or maybe he fainted out of fear. Either way, he was shaken to consciousness when he felt sharp cold and pellets of ice attack his face.

He groaned and adjusted his position, and was immediately bombarded by freezing cold air. Seto opened his eyes and grabbed on to the man riding the motorcycle.

 

“Wh…where are we… going…” Seto asked, the sleepiness in his voice evident.

“A place where those egao zombies can’t get us.” Seto bit back the urge to say something along the lines of ‘if it gets any colder, I don’t think any living creature will get us, either.’ but, he (regrettably) decided against it. Seto felt himself begin to doze off again, and felt thankful for his ridiculously unhealthy sleep schedule. Almost as soon as he began sleeping, Seto was woken by a screech of tires against icy stone. Sleep clouded his vision, and he blinked confusedly.

 

“Hey, Crow! Who’s that?” Seto heard a familiar voice ask, and just as the man who saved him began to say something, that familiar voice started saying something else. “Oh! It’s that Kaiba! I was in his tournament a bit back!”

Well. That could only be one of two people, as the others were either female, didn’t talk at all or part of the friendship cult. Seto sat up and rubbed his eyes, and, lo and behold. Seto sighed.

 

 _Marik._   


“Oh. It’s _you._ ” Seto practically groans, his expression belaying all kinds of light. “You were the one who had a God card, but still managed to not be threatening...”

Marik rolled his eyes. “is that all you know me for?” he asked, and Seto replied without hesitation:

“Yes.”

 

Seto and Marik stared at each other for a good thirty seconds before the other man, who seemed to be named Crow, stepped in.

“hey, why don’t you two continue your staring match inside?” he said, and pointed to the entrance of a large cave behind them. Seto wondered how he hadn’t noticed that yet, and swiftly hopped off the bike and walked inside. He hears Marik complaining about how he doesn’t like it in there, and smirks. Seto looks around the massive hall of stone, it had a few smaller caves leading off of it, one of them emanating a soft, warm glow. Naturally, Seto enters a different room, but when he realized nobody was there, he went back and entered the other one, cursing at himself for doing illogical things. Upon entering the room, he saw two people, one was a tanned, large man wearing a purple coat. He also had some sort of do-hickey on his head, but Seto didn’t bother calling attention to it, after all, it _could_ actually be his hair. The other was a girl with long, light blonde hair and magenta eyes. Seto kind of wanted to talk to them, but he also kind of wanted to curl up in a ball and die and cry and other _fun_ activities.

 

Seto gathered what courage he had left and walked over to the two, who turned to look at him. “Um. Hello.” Seto began. shit. _What next, do I talk about the smile things? Is it too soo-_

The man looked at him curiously, and began to speak. “Who are you…?” Seto sighed in relief that he didn’t have to be the first to ask.

“My name is Seto Kaiba, what about you two?”  the pair’s eyes both widened a little as Seto introduced himself.

“You’re _the_ Seto Kaiba?” The man asked, surprised. “The one who created the duel disk?” Seto nodded.

“Yes, that was me.”

 

The man glanced at the girl, as if she was somehow able to tell if Seto was the real deal. The girl stood up and shook Seto’s hand. “My name is Gloria Tyler, and this is Leo Akaba.” Gloria said. “It’s an honour to meet you.”

  


Seto paced around in one of the side caves, thinking. This all happened so quickly…

_I can’t believe I left Mokuba behind._

 

Seto sunk to the floor as quickly as the realization that he left his baby brother, the person who trusted him the most, alone with those monsters sank in. Seto sat on the cold stone and tucked his legs in toward his body, guilt washing over him.

“M-my god… Mokuba…” Seto stuttered pathetically. “I… I’m so sorry… Mokuba…” Seto sat there, sobbing to himself angrily. Seto felt time pass him by agonizingly, when he was roused from this miserable state by a girl’s voice. His face shot up, and he saw that blonde haired person from earlier. _Wait, her name was…_

 

 _Gloria. Right_.

 

“Did you leave someone behind, too?” she asked, catching Seto off guard. “what?! No! What makes you think that-“ Seto was saying, but stopped himself when he saw the pain in Gloria’s eyes. He sighed.

“I… I left my little brother behind… I was scared, and selfish, and… I’m so horrible.” He admitted, looking at the ground sorrowfully. Gloria sat down next to him and stared at the ceiling of the cave.

“My sister… we were running as quickly as we could, but… they grabbed on to her, and I couldn’t do anything to help her.” Gloria said in a low tone, and cupped her face in her hands. Seto looked at her, and wondered what that would have been like.

“Hey, Gloria- was it? If it makes you feel any better, we can be deplorable siblings together.” Seto said and let out a small, bitter laugh. Gloria looked at Seto, and smiled a sad, lonely smile.

“I'm sure we’ll be able to fix them some day,” she said, but she didn't sound like believed herself in the slightest. Seto felt a few minutes of silence pass before he slowly staggered to his feet. “Where are you going?” Gloria asked him.

“Don't know. I'm going to walk in the caves a little bit, I suppose.” Seto said distantly. Gloria looked at Seto for a second longer, and then nodded.

“Well, I'm not stopping you.” She said.   


Seto walked into the dreary rock halls, not having any clue where he was going, and not knowing what to do from this point. Seto wondered how this all happened, anyway.

Perhaps there was some demon that really liked creepy smiles, or maybe it's just a horrible virus, but Seto found both of those incredibly unlikely. is it… Magic?

 

_No._

  
No, That would be ridiculous, magic doesn't exist, no matter what yugi says! ...Right? _Right._ Seto took in a deep breath, and continued his stroll. After a bit of pacing at the end of the ginormous cave, Seto looped back to the entrance, where that Crow man was loading a man with blond and blue hair and a child with sky blue hair off of his bike. Seto briefly wondered who they were, but decided that he wanted to avoid another awkward introduction.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryou sat in his room, his eyes wide open with fear. Every noise, every creak of the floor gained his attention, no way in hell he was going to die in the zombie apocalypse. He swore this to himself, over and over again, praying softly.

 

_ ”Who are you kidding?” _

 

That voice. Ryou’s ‘other self’. Ryou stared at the millennium ring with a paranoid expression.

 

_ ”Nobody survives the apocalypse, Host, I thought all those zombie tapes you watch would show you…”  _ Ryou sighed, annoyed. 

 

“Stop it. The world is ending, why are you not concerned?” Ryou asked the Spirit, eliciting a ghastly laugh from it.

 

_ ”I tried to make the world end before, don't you know? This thing will blow over, but you’ll surely be caught in it before that time, Host.” _ It said to Ryou, causing him to shiver, his anxiety growing. 

Suddenly, Ryou heard a huge crash in direction of his front door, and his heart sunk. _ ”Look, Host! it's your time!”  _ The voice sang and laughed cruelly. Ryou quickly grabbed the massive backpack filled with supplies he'd gathered, and took out his switchblade. Ryou glanced at the ring on his bedside table, and quickly hung it around his neck.

 

_ ”You're taking me with you? How kind of you!”  _ the voice said, but Ryou ignored it as he lept out his window. Ryou landed awkwardly, and swore under his breath. Bad start, but whatever. He’ll still win.  _ ”The ultimate role playing game, right, Landlord?”  _ the voice said, attempting to throw Ryou off. Ryou nodded silently and ran.

 

“They said that these zombies can’t stand cold… So, I'll head to the mountains.” Ryou mused breathlessly, causing his other self to make a few rude comments which were about as scathing as any given YouTube comment. Ryou spotted one of the ‘zombies’ across the road, as did it. Ryou swiftly spun into a gap between some buildings, and… Dead end. 

 

_ Fuck _ .

 

” _ Hey, Host- _ “ the Spirit of the ring began, but Ryou cut him off.

 

“If you say a thing about me dying, I will throw the ring in a volcano.” Ryou said bluntly. 

 

_ ”Isn't that the plot to that one movie with the hobbits and the evil ring?”  _ the Spirit asked smugly, causing Ryou to sigh. 

 

“It's called ‘The Hobbit’, other me.” He said, right before the zombie from earlier turned into the street end where the Bakura's stood. 

 

_ ”Well, you seem to be in a bit of a cucumber, Host!” _ the Spirit said loudly, and laughed.

 

“The saying is, ‘in a pickle’, I swear to god.” Ryou argued, exasperated. 

 

The Spirit scoffed. ” _ Same difference.”   _

 

Ryou was now tuning the insufferable ghost out, and focusing only on the task at hand: not dying. He tightly grasped the small blade in two hands, bracing himself for possible death. Ryou began yelling as he ran quickly toward the zombie, only slightly hearing his other self’s yelling above his heart pounding out of his chest. Ryou raised his weapon as high as he could, and with only a little bit of hesitation, swung it down on the disc shaped head of the disturbing creature, splattering blood all over his hoodie and scarf. 

 

Ryou stood there with his mouth open, before crouching down and poking the fallen monster with his knife. 

 

_ ”HOST! What the hell were you thinking?! You could have died! Then who would my immortal soul haunt???”  _ the Spirit yelled loudly at Ryou, who turned around to look at him. 

 

“You were  _ literally _ making jokes about me dying less than five minutes ago, you’re awful at keeping your jokes legitimate.” He said angrily. 

 

” _ Shut your mouth, Host, it was for comedic value.”  _ The ghost attempted to reason.

 

“Ah. So is your entire existence.” Ryou said coolly as he got up from the body on the pavement, and stepped over it’s limp form. The other Bakura was staring at the floor, probably due to Ryou’s words. Ryou sighed. “Stop being a baby, you've massacred hundreds of people. I'm sure you can handle a little joke.” He said in an annoyed fashion.   
  


Ryou walked along the empty streets of domino city, humming to himself. Really, it was nice how quiet the city truly was, thanks to the literal apocalypse. Ryou closed his eyes, and soaked in the unsettling peace, before it was ever so rudely interrupted by none other than his other self. 

 

_ ”Ryou. Ryou. Why are we going to this particular mountain, Ryou?”  _ the obnoxious Spirit asked loudly, grasping Ryou's left shoulder with his hand and pointing at something with the other, like the annoying backseat driver he is. 

 

“I saw a man riding a motorcycle go this way, I assume that some people are staying up there.” Ryou said whilst tapping his chin in thought. “I'm not planning on joining them, but I'm planning to trade with them at least.” He concluded, and the Spirit laughed. 

 

_ ”You just want to see if yugi’s there, don't you?”   _ it teased, and Ryou waved his hand in its face. 

“That is definitely one of my motives, but I'd also like some better supplies.” He claimed. 

_ “But if Yugi’s there-“   _ it started, and Ryou angrily cut it off. 

 

“Even if he is, I won't join him. I want to be strong without him for once.” He spat. 

 

_ ”Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the couch.” _ The Spirit said, causing Ryou to roll his eyes. 

 

“I'm not even going to bother correcting you this time.” He said, annoyed. 

 

_ What?! I was sure I got that one right!”  _ the Spirit complained to his Host, who wasn't listening in the slightest.   
  


Ryou walked along the icy path, humming a tune quietly. He found that he wasn't scared at all, which he found weird, though he decided to not pay attention to it. He noticed that the snow and ice were horribly powerful, causing him to adjust his scarf and cover his eyes with his gloved hands. Ryou suddenly heard the distant sound of a motorcycle, causing him to duck off the path to allow it space. As it passed, Ryou swore under his breath, brushing the layer of snow kicked up by the bike off his hood. 

 

_ ”Host, was that the man on the motorcycle you were talking about earlier?”  _ The Spirit spoke suddenly. 

 

“No, it's actually a giant bird. Of course it's the guy I was talking about, what else would it be?” Ryou said. 

 

” _ Touchy.” _ The Spirit responded, causing Ryou to angrily glare at his other self. 

 

“IT’S. TOUCHÉ!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, the cry of anger reverberating across the mountain range. The Spirit said a single word. 

 

” _ chill _ .”

 

Ryou soon found himself staring at a huge crevice in the side of the mountain, amazed. He looked inside, and saw a man with blond and blue hair, a child with blue hair, and… Is that really… Marik? Ryou never thought he'd even ever see him again. Ryou ran up to Marik, and greeted him.

“Bakura! ...Why are you covered in blood…?” Marik immediately asked, causing Ryou to look at his jacket. he really was soaked with the stuff.  

 

“Um. One of those smile zombies came at me, so... I fought back...” He explained to Marik, who seemed more confused than before. 

 

“How were you not turned...? From what I know, if you were to attack it you must have touched it, which would have turned you…” He said, and scratched his head. Ryou tried to process this information. _ I should have been turned...? How was I not?  _ He asked himself,  shaking his head. 

  
“How peculiar…” 


	3. Chapter 3

Seto’s head was sore and cold as he laid tiredly on the freezing floor of the cavern. He'd heard the commotion, with apparently that Bakura kid. he found himself not caring about him, he was just tired, and sort of wanted to die. He found himself missing Yugi and his stupid friends, and the other Yugi, who was less stupid. 

 

_ Wait, that Bakura guy is one of Yugi's friends.  _

 

Seto sighs, sitting up and gripping his head, wishing for a pillow. Or Advil. Both, actually. Seto heard Marik talking about him to presumably Ryou, and he rolled his eyes. He assumed he wouldn’t be able to avoid them, and stood in irritation. He peeked out of the room, seeing people talking, and a obvious buzz. Seto wondered how shitty he looked exactly, but he realizes that his looks aren't important in the current situation. 

 

Seto steps out, slides back in a little, and slowly continues to walk out of the room. He immediately feels Marik looking at him, and sighs as he is waved at. He walks towards Marik, his usual flawless image… Less flawless. And pretty messy, actually. 

 

_ Ugh. _

 

Eventually he reached the group, who were all interviewing that Bakura guy. And then he remembered, that guy. Orange hair, hot. No, it's Crow.  _ Weird name.  _ Seto's eyes widened as that Crow guy, suddenly was in front of him. And suddenly, it was less cold in the cave. 

 

“Hey! You okay?” He suddenly asked, causing Seto to jump. 

 

“Huh?! Yeah I- I'm not- I'm fine! Just fine!” Seto yelps awkwardly, and Crow laughs a little bit. 

 

“Sweet, i didn't know what to think of you back there, but you seem cool. The name’s Crow!” Crow offers his hand for a shake, and Seto stares at him with a red face, before accepting the shake. 

 

“I… I’m Kaiba.” He says, before pulling away, and stepping back. He feels Crow still looking at him, turning away even more. 

 

“Is… Is something wrong?” Crow asks him, and Seto doesn't turn around. Crow shakes his shoulder a little, and Seto speaks. 

 

“Look! I don't  _ care _ about you, s-so leave me alone!” He yells, and Crow tilts his head in confusion. 

 

“...what…?”

 

“leave me be, you- Crow- Whatever!” Seto scoffed and turned away again, and he heard a new voice. 

 

“I see you haven't changed, Kaiba.” Seto spun around to face the voice, and saw Bakura. 

 

“What in the the hell does that mean?” He asked, glaring at the white haired boy.

 

“You still seem to have a stick up your ass, unless I'm missing something.” He spoke in a quiet sounding voice, and Seto saw Marik yelling out of the corner of his eye. He hears Crow laughing, and he sighs.

 

_ I guess this is my life, now. _

 

Seto had done his best to effectively avoid talking to Bakura altogether, but he did hear someone talking about how he actually killed one of those zombies.  _ Impressive.  _ Didn’t make talking to him sound any more appealing. He found himself wanting to fall asleep more and more with every passing minute, but clearly, sleep was all too merciful. Or maybe he just wasn't tired. He didn't  _ want _ to talk to anyone, not even Crow, despite his… appearance. 

 

He audibly groans as he hears footsteps behind him.  He looks away from the person approaching, and feels a scream coming on as a tiny hand grabs his coat.  _ C-could it be…?! _ He whips around, instinctively looking down and praying. His heart drops a bit as he just sees a child with blue hair. A disheartened sigh escapes, and he eyes up the kid. He really did resemble Mokuba, if Mokuba decided to ruin his hair and start wearing tacky clothes. 

 

“...Hey, what’s wrong? Are you lost?” Seto asks the child, who just gulps and nods. Seto sighs and crouches down to about his height, lightly patting his head. “You're close to somebody here, right? What do they look like?” He asks, internally hoping the kid isn't a mute or something. The kid stays quiet for a minute, before mumbling something out that’s too quiet to hear. Seto sighs. “Excuse me, I didn't-” he starts, but the kid cuts him off. 

 

“His name’s… Kaito…” He mumbles. Seto breathes in a bit irritably.  _ Why is this kid so annoying, he’s not even doing anything. Am I just an asshole all of a sudden? That explains a lot.  _

 

“Got any more details about him…?” Seto almost hesitantly asks, and the kid looks down.  _ Ffffuck, did I mess up?? I probably messed up. God, I am so usele-  _

 

“u-um, he has… Blue bangs, and… A big blond spike on his head…” He mumbles, looking a bit frightened. Seto gives a comforting smile, speaking in a soft voice. 

“We're going to find him, okay? Don't worry.” The kid looks a bit surprised, before smiling as well and nodding.  _ Oh, thank god.  _

 

Seto and the kid quietly walk down the halls, and after a while, Seto notices that they may as well be going in circles. He briefly wonders if he should keep going in this way until the kid gets tired and falls asleep, so he can get someone's attention without scaring him.  _ Or, maybe I should stand still and Crow will come save me…  _ the kid seems to have noticed his dreamy expression, and he pulls Seto back to earth. 

 

“Mm… What’s your name…?” He slowly asks and Seto squeaks a bit. He collects himself before speaking. 

 

“My name is Kaiba. Uh. W-What about you?” He asks, a little nervous. 

 

“...Haruto…” He quietly says, and Seto gives him a look. He sighs, and doesn't push it. Just as he's about to start walking away, he hears quick and hard footsteps. Seto feels his face get a bit warmer, and he slowly turns around, as if in slow motion. Haruto seems a bit happy, but nothing more.

_ It's him!!  _ Seto feels himself flush happily as light seeps into his eyes. It's definitely Crow, a elated smile on his face. Seto feels his heart flutter with joy, and haruto just walks towards him happily. 

 

“Hey, is everyone okay over here?” Crow asks, Holding up a lantern. Seto realises he must be staring, huffing embarrassedly as haruto just nods with a smile. Crow shines the light on Seto, who shrinks back a bit at the brightness. Crow laughs ”what about you, you okay?” He asks, and Seto scoffs. 

 

“of course I'm okay! Dumbass, I don't need  _ you  _ to ask!” He exclaims, and Crow gives a confused look.

“Um. W-well, alright? Let’s just… Get back to the others, okay..?” He slowly says, and Seto swears under his breath a bit.  _ I did it again, what the fuck.  _ Haruto gives Seto a look, before walking closer to Crow as they head back. 

 

Eventually, they did make it back. Seto was wiped, it must be that he was in Crow’s presence!  _ Nah, that's only part of it. _ He was exhausted, and felt like he’d drop dead any minute now. He sighs, finding a room where marik was pressing the kinks from an outstretched sleeping bag. He wipes an eye, sleepily speaking. 

 

“Hey, Marik.” He sighs, mostly disinterested in actual conversation. 

 

“Ah, Seto! Nice to see you, you look like a mess!” Marik laughs, causing Seto to roll his eyes. 

 

“I am aware. What’re you doing with that sleeping bag, where’s it from…?” Seto groans, and Marik sighs. 

“I’m spreading it out so it covers more surfaces, we got it from Ryou.” He explains, and Seto feels himself dazing off. “Hey, you look like a nap would help.” Marik uncertainly says, and Seto shakes himself awake. 

 

“Wh… yeah, probably. Can I sleep there…?” He says in between a yawn, and Marik snickers a bit. 

 

“No, actually, you can sleep in the snow.” Marik laughs and pats the soft surface below him. “If you're tired, lay down!” He says, and Seto stumbles over after removing his shoes. He’d be embarrassed about the fact that he has to remove his pants to actually get his shoes off, but frankly, he was far too tired to give a shit. He flopped down on the floor with half on pants, sighing as he took his phone from his pocket. He noticed that his 3G was miraculously on, and wondered how long it’ll last. 

 

He skimmed through any news sites he could find, mildly disturbed by the frantic and half written reports scattered about, he was mostly unaffected, more worried about his wifi shutting off. He sighed, and decided to try calling Yugi’s store. Maybe, maybe he dreamed it up that they got infected. 

 

_ If nobody picks up, I’m going to scream. _

 

He feels nervousness growing in his chest as he dials the number, his breathing short as the phone rings. His eyes widen when someone _ does _ pick up. He’s speechless, as he hears someone frantically saying “egao” among the moans.  _ A human is in there, pretending. But who…?  _ He breathes in a bit. 

 

“H-hello…?” He whispers, and someone grabbing the phone is heard. 

 

“help, help, help, oh Jesus, please help- they're gonna find out, I need to get out- please help-” a quiet male voice whispers on the other side of the phone.

“A-are you okay? Who are you, what’s wrong?!” Seto can't help but exclaim, and the voice shushes him. 

 

“L-look, ya won't help me if I tell ya who I am! I-I'm fine for now, but- they're gonna… find out!” He says quietly, and Seto wonders who it could be. 

 

_ Nobody important comes to mind. _

He sighs. “Look, I won't help if you don't tell me who you are.” Seto growls irritably. 

 

“I-I really can't tell ya, but- d-don't ya have the decency to help a guy in need!?” He almost sobs, Seto just gives an annoyed look. 

 

“I'm not helping you, but, there’s a safe place in the mountains. Good luck.” He bluntly says, and hangs up in the middle of the man pleading. He sighs. 

_ That might have been a little insensitive. Ha… _

Seto sighs, getting as comfy as he can. he pulls his large, white coat over his cold body, Curling up and trying to get some sort of warmth.  _ It’s cold as a witch’s tit, I swear…  _

 

“Mhh. Hey, Marik.” Seto called out to him, and Marik gives him a look. 

 

“What's wrong?” He asks. 

 

“I'm fucking freezing.” Seto grumbles, and Marik rolls his eyes. 

 

“You're lucky, they don't even have snow in Egypt. Imagine how cold it is for me!” 

 

“I don't care, can't you make this fire hotter?” 

 

Marik gives a irritated look. “Have you ever been camping…?” Seto glares and slightly shakes his head. “Thought so.”


	4. Chapter 4

Jou let out a hiss as the man on the other side of the phone hangs up.  _ Kaiba.  _ God, if it’d been anyone else! But no. His face twisted in fear under his mask as an infected Yugi stared him down.  _ Shit. Does he know!? Jesus, nonono!  _ Jou just stared back, before squeaking out a terrified 

“egao…?” 

 

Yugi appeared satisfied, letting out a disturbing, high pitched noise. Jou strained to not react. He gulped, looking at the phone again. 

He wondered if he should try calling back, but…  _ ich, Kaiba…  _ he’d turn anyone away from salvation if he was the one in charge. Jou wasn't even sure if he should trust Kaiba about some ‘safe refuge’, especially since it’s in the mountains! 

 

_ The bastard probably wants to fool me into freezin’ to death! wouldn't put it past him.  _ He turned around with a defiant pout, Yugi’s flat face reminding him of reality. 

 

_ I don't have a choice.  _

 

Even if he stayed here, he’d never be able to help them. He  _ had  _ to take a chance, not for himself, but for Yugi, and Anzu, and Honda. He couldn't be a coward! Jou felt himself fill with determination, and he grinned behind his mask. 

 

_ I’ll save them! I'll save them all!  _

 

Jou whipped around, strutting out the door confidently. He felt them looking at him in confusion, and he rushed out. He looked around, suddenly forgetting things- Nothing important, but small things. Where his apartment is, the path to the train...

They didn't matter right now, as Jou ran towards a store, fog clouding his head. He wanted to tear off his mask and be free, he wanted to run right now. He hastily grabbed at a plastic bag, filling it with whatever he could get his hands on. He noticed his breathing was unusually heavy, and he runs harder, faster. He felt others- n-no, they're zombies- staring at him. He held the bag like a backpack, and sprints towards a mountain.  He couldn’t remember if the mountain was supposed to be the south or north- he can't care, he felt at ease. 

 

After getting a bit of distance from Domino, he fumbled a bit with the mask. He felt like it was glued to him, or maybe his hesitation makes him feel it. He gives a nervous smile, confused. 

 

_ W-what…? Why…?!  _ He's sweating, an unusual amount.  _ This… this doesn't make sense! It's just a m-mask. Just. A mask.  _

 

He scrapes his nails against the mask, his smile wavering as he feels it now has the same texture as a tooth, or a bone. Panic sets in slowly, and he tumbles to the ground.   _ W-what? This… this makes no sense…  _ he knows he  _ wants _ to remove it, but… he remembers something. His mind is cloudy, but something is clear. He shoves a hand into his pocket, grabbing his deck. He thumbs through it, searching. Eventually, he’s filled with comfort, or maybe nostalgia. He sighs as he looks at the Time Wizard, Yugi’s voice running wild inside his head. 

_ Whatever this is, it won't hold me back!  _

 

A grin spreads across his face as he tears away the mask, ignoring the slight stinging on his cheeks. He throws it to the ground, sighing in relief as his mind clears. He stands, and smashes his foot into the mask, cracking it into a few pieces. 

 

“You can't control me! I’ll save them!!” Jou exclaims, crushing it into many more shards. He sighs in relief.  _ Fuck yeah, freedom!  _ He wants to dance around in exhilaration, but quickly gets back on track to the mountain. 

 

_ I'm gonna meet you in freezing hell, Kaiba! _


	5. Chapter 5

Seto sighs and groans, Feeling freezing.  _ Jesus, did he kill the fucking fire?!  _

Seto hisses and sits up, shivering and wrapping his numb fingers in his coat. He sits there for a few minutes, breathing on his hands in a vain attempt to warm them. He sleepily stands, rubbing a kink in his neck. 

Seto grumbles to himself annoyedly, and exits the room. He blinks the sleep from his eyes and takes in a deep breath, slightly confused by the clarity of the air. It's cold and crisp, and he walks to the entrance of the cave. It’s no longer storming out, the sky blue and cloudless with diamond dust sparkling in the air. Seto smiles, and briefly wonders why there’s no clouds. 

_ It really is calming…  _ he just stands there, breathing in and out. His eyes widen in surprise, seeing a shuffling in the snow a bit further down. He shakes his head, pretending to see nothing. 

_ Can't I, for one moment, have some peace?  _ The spot shuffles again, and Seto just sighs defeatedly. He quickly grabs his coat, doing something he believed unfathomable. 

_ Buttoning it up. _

He slips a hand into his pocket, watching his breath as it puffs into the chilled air.  _ Perplexing. _ He shuffles off the stone platform onto a makeshift road, carefully sliding down it. A bit down the road, he reaches the area of the confusing squirming snow. 

He lightly steps off the path, squeaking as his boot crashes through at least four feet of snow. He frantically looks around, praying that nobody heard. He grumbles and shoves his now stinging hands in his pockets, shuffling to the suspicious spot and trying to clean his pants between strides. 

Eventually he reaches it, brushing away snow and a thin layer of ice to reveal red fabric. He pats it with considerable force. 

“Hey. Who’re you?” He huffs, and squeaks a bit as the lump springs to life. He thumps on his ass backwards, and the ‘lump’ is now brushing snow off his body. “The name’s Judai Yuki!” He happily says, snickering. “Never knew  _ the  _ Seto Kaiba himself squeaked!~” Seto's face heats up in anger. “Wh- I do not! Where did you hear that!?” He growls, hoping that Judai didn't hear him. 

“Heard it here! Just now, actually!” Judai laughs. 

_ Fuck. _

 

Seto now finds himself supporting a snickering, frozen solid kid. Ich. 

_ He knows my secret. _

Seto wonders if this ‘Judai’ will die if he just… puts him back in the snow. Maybe he’ll smother him f- 

“H-hey, where’re we going?” Judai asks, snapping Seto back to the moment at hand. “Ah? Um, there's a place- a cave, actually, that has people in it.” He says, hissing as a gust of wind rushes into his face and whips his hair back. Judai seems less affected, and goes quiet as they trek back. By the time they get back, Setos cheeks are slightly frosted and his eyes are watering. 

He brushes his palms against his cheeks, attempting to warm himself. “M-maybe someone has started a fire…” he mumbles, most to himself. Judai tags along as he shakily moves to the room where the people from before sat, the fireplace now had metal around it to catch the sparks. Seto feels the intense urge to throw himself into the fire and burn to death. 

_ At Least it’d be warm.  _

Crow, Marik, Gloria, and that kaito guy were all sitting around the fire and talking about one thing or another, Seto found himself entirely disinterested. 

_ Ugh… what if I have to actually…  _ **_socialize_ ** _??  _ Seto grimaces. 

They’re sitting on folding camping chairs, and a few are stacked at the back of the room. Seto sighs, and quietly walks over to the group. “Hmm? Oh, hey, Seto!” Crow loudly greets him, causing Seto to flush the slightest bit. He notices haruto roasting a leaf over the fire, and hums. 

“U-um. Hello. Mind if I join in, I’m cold.” Seto asks, and kaito just points to the folded chairs and nods. Seto sighs and grabs a chair.

 

Seto flops the chair down in an empty space, carefully sitting in it and crossing his legs. 

“Hey, your pants look wet.” Marik comments, and Seto glares. “What about it!?” He scoffs, and Marik gives an annoyed look. “You should take them off, they might freeze to your body…” Marik slowly says, and Seto blushes with an angry face. 

“W-what?! I’m not doing that!” Seto practically growls. “Hey, calm down! I can set you up with the fire in the sleeping room, you can have privacy!” Crow pipes up, and Seto hums in thought. “Fine. Whatever. If you stick around, i’ll attack you.” Seto grumbles, and Crow sighs. 

Crow quickly leads him out of the room with the supplies in it, and begins attempting to light the older pit. Seto shivers. “H-hey, how long’re you g-gonna take there?” He stutters.  _ Fuck, I really am freezing.  _ “A few minutes, be patient.” Crow says, crinkling some sort of potato chips over the fireplace. Seto wants to ask, but is too distracted by his own chattering teeth. Crow must've noticed how cold he looks, and laughs a little. 

“Hey, why'd you even go out there?” Crow asks, and Seto's eyes get a bit wider.  _ Oh, shit, I forgot about him.  _ “U-uh, there was this k-kid… named J-Judai…” Seto huffs, and Crow gives a surprised look. “A kid? Where are they now?” He worriedly asks, and Seto gulps. “H-had them with m-me at the entrance…” he sighs. Crow grits his teeth and quickly succeeds in lighting the fire, running to the entrance. Seto sighs, shuffling close to the fire and hesitantly removing his pants and coat. He rubs his legs to encourage warmth, sighing contently. 

_ This can't be as bad as I thought. _


	6. Chapter 6

Ryou wandered around the caves, sighing.  _ “Host, Yugi’s not here! We should go, we should leave~”  _ the Spirit of the ring laughs. “For once, I agree.” Ryou mumbles, and the Spirit looks almost shocked.  _ “Wait, seriously…?”   _ It asks, and Ryou nods nonchalantly.  _ “I-I didn't think you'd actually want to…??”  _ It says in an almost fearful voice. 

“You thought, now let’s get going.” Ryou hums.  _ “You're kidding! T-this is just a trick!”  _ The Spirit yells, and Ryou rolls his eyes. “You really are clueless, aren't you…?” He slowly asks, and the Spirit yells out an angry  _ ”HEY!”  _ Ryou just sighs and waves his hand at the Spirit. “If you're so torn up about leaving, don't worry, we’ll visit often.” Ryou says with a smirk, and the Spirit sputters angrily. _ “What?! No! I don't care! I-I'm just surprised!-”   _

Ryou laughs.

 

Ryou wraps his scarf around his face before leaving, sliding down the road with as much precision as possible.  _ They need coats, food… this could be rough.  _ Ryou sighs, trying to keep from letting fluid escape from his face. 

_ “Hooooost, where are we going?~”  _ the Spirit asks, and ryou huffs. “C’nt talk right n’w.” Ryou mumbles, and the Spirit pouts.  _ “Oh, come on! It's not that cold…!”  _ It angrily says. 

_ Like you would know. _

“‘tis.” Ryou huffs, pulling his gloves on tighter and licking his cracked lips.  _ Ah, shit.  _ Ryou wipes his lips on his scarf, smearing sweat and snot around.  _ “That's disgusting.”  _ The Spirit comments, and Ryou smiles a bit. “ ‘m ‘awre.” He says shakily.  _  “Host, you're covered in gunk! Don't you care?!”  _ The Spirit yells.  _ Nope.  _ Ryou doesn't bother to answer, carefully climbing. He attempts to tune out the Spirit, annoyed. Ryou’s legs hurt a bit, maybe he twists an ankle while descending.  _ That doesn't matter.  _ He’d feel it later, anyways. 

He sighs, as snow lightly begins to fall. He blinks snowflakes from his lashes, descending quicker. 

 

Eventually, Ryou finds himself at the base of the mountain. He realizes that it must be above freezing by now, so he cracks open his iced over lips, licking them and breathing hot air on his face. It's hot, and he sighs happily as his face defrosts. 

“H-hey, I can talk now.” Ryou slowly says, noticing that the Spirit disappeared from sight.  _ That little shit. _ He half knew that the Spirit was messing with him, but he had no strength to care. Ryou treks back to Domino, readying a weapon. The groaning was half audible about a mile away, perhaps it would serve as a warning to anyone stupid enough to go into an infected city.

“If you're there, you better speak up.” Ryou says in a warning tone, and the Spirit appears.  _ “Or what, you’ll kill me? Oh, wait~” _ “Get your ass in line, please and thank you.” he mutters, and the Spirit pouts.  _ “No need to be so rude, what did i ever do to you?”  _ it asks, and Ryou snorts annoyedly. “Actually, a lot. A ridiculous amount. I probably couldn’t even  _ count _ all the shit you’ve cause m-” 

_ “okay, okay! Gods, no need for such ruthlessness!~”  _ the Spirit says, and pokes Ryou’s ear. “I mean. You did ask…” Ryou mumbles. “I legitimately couldn't count all the problems in my life which you directly caused.” he continues, and the Spirit quickly re-directs his eyes to something else. 

_ Holy fuck, a shopping mall.  _

Ryou blinks, casually walking towards it and gripping the blade in his pocket. He slightly hears the Spirit warn him and yell out a few  _ “what about the egaos???” _ s, but he felt it wouldn't be a problem for him.  _ Yeah. no problem.  _

Ryou sighs, speed-walking and avoiding any eye contact. _“Hey. hey, landl-”_ “be quiet.” Ryou quietly hisses, sticking low to the ground as he closes in on the store. _“Heey, why are you so pissy all of a sudden? Ah, how i miss the old, friendly yet calm ry-”_ the Spirit starts again, and Ryou slams his palm over its theoretical mouth. “This _really_ isn’t the time.” Ryou spits, moving faster. The Spirit almost audibly rolls their eyes, but does shut up. _Thank god._ Ryou grumbles a bit as he slips into the mall, glad at how warm it was. He looks around quietly, huffing at the barely audible groaning. He strolls around the hall, somewhat unnerved at the lack of any people, as if it was closed when this all started. It was just plain _weird._ _“Landlord, I hear something.”_ The Spirit suddenly whispers, if you didn't know him, it might even sound… Cautious… 

“What? No you don't, don't be dramatic.” Ryou says confusedly.  _ “No, no, I really did! D-didn't you hear it, too?”  _ It sputters, and Ryou cocks an eyebrow. “huh, I think I hear it! It sounds like a scared kitten~” he says, grinning.  _ “TAKE ME SERIOUSLY, RA DAMN IT!”  _ It yells, and Ryou snickers. “Sure, kitty~”

 

Ryou walks into a clothing store, grinning at a section with fur coats hung in it. He figures that thievery shouldn't be too bad an offense in these times, seeing as nobody is around to care. Doesn't help his conscience any, and now the Spirit is crying with pride. 

Ryou grabs a handbag, and shoves many of the coats into his bag. He grabs a few pairs of boots from the shelves, swapping his rubber boots for a pair, choosing a black pair. He looked around for the now suspiciously quiet Spirit, seeing nothing.  _ Guess he hid, but from what? _   Ryou hummed as he thought and packed, thankful for the ridiculous size of his bag. 

“Never thought I'd ever find a use for this thing, h-hehe.” Ryou spoke to himself, zipping it up after wrestling with it a bit. He expected the Spirit to comment at the least, but it was silent. Ryou gulps, the air seemed a bit thicker than before, it smelled faintly like… exhaust, from a vehicle.  _ “Host- Host, it’s getting closer, you should… run???”  _ The Spirit offered, Ryou realized that there really was something. the faint sound of a motor was audible. “Why…? It's not like zombies can drive automobiles, that would be silly!” Ryou whispered to the Spirit. “It must be another human.” Ryou quickly finished packing, lifting the heavy bag onto his shoulders. Ryou estimated that it weighed at least 1,000 pounds. 

_ “This miiiight come as a shocker, but… you’re just not very strong.”  _ The Spirit’s voice interrupted his thought process, and Ryou sighs. “Don't be a dick….. you..” he uncertainly said, and he almost heard the Spirit roll his eyes.  _ “Bakura.”  _

“What?” Ryou looked for the Spirit again. _“No, that's my name. Call me Bakura.”_ It said. “B-but. That's also my n-” Ryou began, before being interrupted. “ _not anymore.”_ The Spirit concludes. “Wh- no! No, that's not your n-” Ryou sputters, before feeling something cold touch his lips, accompanied by the Spirit’s annoying voice shushing him. _“Look, you can call me something else, but ‘you’ is too va-”_ the Spirit starts, before Ryou decides that it’s his turn. 

“Be quiet, you!” He huffs, and the Spirit groans.

 

Suddenly, something cold covers Ryou's mouth and pushes him behind the counter of the store.  _ “Fffffuck, Host, I swear to god Host, it's like- it’s right theeeeere!!”  _ The Spirit hisses, and Ryou deadpans. “What the fuck are you on about-” and then it hits him. The sound of a motor is much more clearly heard, and Ryou jumps over the register in panic.   
**_“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, HOST?!”_ ** The Spirit screeches, causing Ryou to half flinch.

He darts out of the store, running as fast as his thin legs will carry him.  _ It’s not too far to the exit- I-I can make it!  _ Ryou’s eyes began to water from the air rushing into his eyes, and he feels himself almost slip on the smooth floor. The growling grows closer, and a white bike zooms past him with a deafening roar, causing his boots to skid on the floor and sending Ryou flying across the tiles. Ryou gasps for air, trying to get his breath back. He hears the bike screech around towards him, stopping dead in its tracks beside him.  _ “HOST HOST GET UP, gET UP OH GODS YOU'RE DEAD, YoU A RE SoO DE A D”  _ the Spirit screamed, deafening Ryou further as he tries to crawl away. The person on the bike removes their helmet, and tosses it at Ryou with little regard for if it will be damaged or not. The helmet crashes into the center of Ryou's shoulder blades, causing Ryou to let out a dry scream and collapse on the floor. 

He feels a boot press into his back, hard. The Spirit screeches.

 

Ryou looks up to the ‘person’ with their foot on his back, his eyes practically bulge out of his head when he sees his… well, lack of a face. The only thing there was a pale yellow-green disk, with a permanent smile drawn on to it. Besides that, he wore a white and red race suit, and his hair resembled the deranged offspring of sonic the hedgehog and a bunch of bananas. 

Ryou's breathing quickens, as the creature slowly processes what is occurring. He suddenly drives his heel deeper into Ryou's back, causing him to hiss in pain. “E… egao…” he mumbles. “E-excuse me?” Ryou gasps fearfully, and he tilts his head. “Y… yuu. Yuuggoo.” It slowly says in a low yet squeaky voice.  _ What. What- what the fuck? It can… talk!?  _ Ryou's breathing picks up, and he speaks nervously. “I-is that your n-name…?” He cautiously asks, and it reaches out its hand shakily to grab his scarf, refusing to answer. Ryou attempts to wrestle it’s hand away, hissing as it pulls him up by his throat. Ryou looked at the seat of the motorcycle, hearing the Spirit scream for him. 

And then, it went black.


	7. Chapter 7

Jou hisses angrily, striking his match yet again.

“I swear to god, if you don't work, I'm gonna-” he growled impatiently, and the eighth match fell from his numb fingers, causing him to curse loudly. 

He yells into the bundle of sticks and Doritos he’d put together, stomping on the fallen match and embedding it deep in the snow at his feet. 

It had been a few days since he left, and he knew he was making good progress, but these god damn matches!  _ Knew they were bad luck! I knew that kitty was bad news, despite his floof!  _

Jou grumbles angrily, giving up and shoving his stinging fingers back into his pockets.

“Maaaaaan, do I eeeeverrrr looooveeeeee…-” 

Jou sighs. “-cold canned ravioli.” 

_ This is by far the worst hike i’ve ever been on. _

Jou is now holding a can of ravioli like a cup of coffee, attempting to ignore the snow which finds its way into the busted open lid of the tin. The snow wasn't too bad- it had very recently started, and probably wouldn't get bad for a while. 

_ That being said, I am no snow expert. _ Jou fumbles with the zipper on the part of his coat covering his mouth, trying in vain to hold his hair and coat out of the way of his freezing and moderately disgusting snack. 

This failed horribly, as the wind whipped his hair in every direction, it became coated in the sauce. Jou groaned, throwing it to the ground and rubbing snow into his hair. 

_ Gross, gross, ugh, I don't want to be reminded of that later!  _

 

Jou keeps moving, occasionally shoving snow into his mouth to sate his thirst. He had no idea how much farther he had to go, and was hoping that it wasn't too long. He knew his lips were frozen over, so he didn't bother trying to talk.  _ Maybe I was more than right when I said ‘freezin’ hell…’  _ oh well, it could not be helped, if he tried to go back, he’d freeze, and if he didn't find this safe haven soon, he’d freeze.  _ Lose-lose, eh?  _ He hums annoyedly, feeling his fingers sting more with every touch of the ice around him. He stumbles through the at least four feet of snow, it slipping into his boots and nipping his exposed ankles. 

Soon, he found that the snow was far lower, and sighed in relief. He squints through blurry eyes at a faintly glowing spot in the distance, and his eyes fill with stars.  _ It exists!! It- he wasn't lying!!!  _ He could scarcely believe his eyes! Jou ran forward as fast as he could, dropping his bag of supplies and climbing with all his might. 

_ It exists! It exists! I’m not going to die here! _

Jou grins wide, embracing the light as it gets closer to him.

 

Jou was purple is many spots, his face was red and scraped by ice. His breathing was short as he weakly climbed onto the rock self, scraping his leg on a particularly sharp stone. He didn't even feel it, and was now bleeding in a lump in front of the cave. A female yell was heard, and Jou was suddenly being dragged inside, he smiles through frozen lips. He blearily opens his eyes, half hearing an angry, judgemental, assholeish voice practically scream. He looks up, eyes widening in fury as his gaze lands on  _ him. Seto fucking Kaiba.  _ He roars in rage as he springs up on Kaiba, causing the boy to screech in surprise as they fall to the ground together. Jou grabs his hair, hissing animalistically as Seto kicks and thrashes, scratching what he can reach. Jou half hears a worried conversation pass next to him below the sound of his heart thumping.

 

“Hey, Marik, uh-” Crow leans to Marik, speaking a bit quietly as he looks on at the fight. “-are they dating…?” He asks, and Marik jumps back so far it looks like he’d been hit in the gut. 

“What?! No! Look- they are fighting for their lives!!” Marik exclaims. “Really? They look like a few couples I know…” Crow mumbles, and Marik just squints at him.


	8. Chapter 8

Seto screeches in rage, kneeing Jou's side. He’s able to slip out from under Jou, squeaking in pain as Jou roughly grabs him by his hair and pulls him back.

”what the fuck-?! How in the living fuck did  _ you _ get in here, mutt?! You were one of those z-” Seto was abruptly cut off as Jou slammed a hand over his mouth. “Be quiet! You were just gonna leave me to die, weren't ya?!” Jou hisses, knocking seto's head against the floor and causing him to cry out in pain. “Gh- I didn't know it was you! You sounded-” Seto hisses again as Jou digs his head into the stone floor. “I’m sure you knew damn well I was in danger! What sort of person--” 

Jou coughs loudly as a navy blue boot kicks his side, throwing him off of the more helpless than not Seto.

“Hey! You two, knock it off!” Gloria yells, and Seto blinks and smirks. “H-hey, thanks Glori-” Seto starts, but is cut off by her boot on his chest. 

“Kaiba, why did he attack you, what did you do?!” She asks in in accusatory way, causing Seto to flinch. 

_ God, females are terrifying.  _

 

“U-uh, well, I-” “That bastard left me to the egao guys!” Jou yells, and Seto hisses back “did not!”, Gloria sighs. “You! Tell me about what supposedly happened!” She yells, causing Jou to jump a bit. 

“A-ah, this Kaiba guy called the game shop where I was hidin’, and I was askin’ for help, and he said he wouldn't help me if he didn't know who I was!” Jou quickly says. “And why didn't you tell him who you were…?” She asks, and Seto pales slightly. 

“He's the worst person I've met in a long time! He hurt me and my friends a lot, and he’s the worst!” Jou exclaims, and Seto growls. Gloria frowns annoyedly. “And why should I believe you? I'd say there’s a big difference between the creator of the first duel disk and some… street dog.” She huffs, and Jou's face darkens. 

**“I’M NOT A FUCKIN’ DOG!”** He growls, and Gloria takes a step back. “Could have fooled me~” Seto snickers, and Jou glares with murder in his eyes. “You  _ really  _ don't want to fuck with me today, I’m already in a bad mood.” He spits, and Seto sits up. “Psh, do your worst, mutt!” He practically cackles, and Jou kicks him in the side of the head, hard.

Seto sputters painfully as he hits the ground again, looking disoriented. After a few seconds, he passes out at Jou's feet. Gloria looks at Jou in shock, Crow is speechless. Marik glares as he storms towards Jou. 

“Jounouchi, what in Ra’s name are you doing?!” He asks loudly, and Jou huffs. “C’mon, Kaiba was bein’ a dick!” He says, and Marik growls. “Does that give you the right to give him a head injury?! No! We have little medical supplies as is!!” Marik screeches, and Jou looks down a bit. “Well… I didn't mean it mean to offend your s-supplies…?” Jou slowly says, and Marik’s stink eye seems to only get stinkier. “Jounouchi. I swear to the gods.” He huffs, sighing loudly. 

“You know what? I prescribe you and Kaiba some bonding time to get over your shit.” He coldly says, causing Jou to pale instantly. 

“Isn't that just a murder waiting to happen…?” Gloria asks Marik, who laughs. “If it is, I don't know which one i’d rather have dead!~” he snickers with a grin. 

Crow hums. “You know guys, I’d much prefer nobody died at all!” He says, and a nonchalant voice speaks up from the hall. 

“You should just let it happen, otherwise we’ll run out of food much sooner.”

 

Jou’s head whips to the hall, seeing a person with the blue and blond hair. Jou suddenly bristles. “Hey, what the hell does that mean?!” He yells, and the man in the hall looks him in the eye. 

“I don't think it will be as good if I repeat it for you, unless you did hear, in which case, I was implying that the rest of us would eat your corpse if you died.” He coolly says, and Seto tiredly snickers a little. “Wh- Don't mess with me! That’s fucked, you hear me!?” Jou yells, and the man just looks away. “Hey! Hey, lookit me when i’m talkin’ to ya, jerk!” Jou yells again, and the awkwardness is almost audible as the man walks back into the cave. Seto snickers louder and more clearly. 

“G-Guess you weren't his type, tough luck~!” He laughs, and Jou scoffs. “Can we agree that he was all looks, no personality?” He asks, and Seto sighs. “At least those were some damn nice looks…~” he laughs, and Jou groans.  “Do you  _ ever  _ chill?!” Jou asks, and Seto shakes his head, while blushing a bit.

“Good god, I’m not going to survive, Marik…”

“You’ll be fiiiiine.”


	9. Chapter 9

Ryou groans loudly, blinking awake. His head was pounding, but he wasn't dead, at least not yet. He surveyed his surroundings, noting that he was in a dungeon of some sort. 

_ I didn't know egao zombies took prisoners, h-hehe.  _ Ryou sighs, trying to stretch his arms, finding their movement is now restricted by handcuffs. He sighed, glad that he could still feel the ring on his chest. His eyes widened in fear as a door creaked open, and in stepped an egao, which gave off the same energy of the one which attacked him. It had a almost black purple face, with a white smile. It's hair resembled the other one’s, except with a purple filter. 

It… it actually looked a lot like Yugi’s hair in the back, he even had a choker, like Yugi. 

_ Oh god, is it a fanboy…?  _

Ryou flinches as the egao undoes his restraints and slings him over it’s shoulder in a robotic fashion. “H-hey. Do you… do you talk…?” Ryou quietly asked the egao, who then stopped in it's tracks. 

“Gh… gaooo…” it breathes out, and Ryou shivers.  _ I guess that's a no.  _

The egao quietly continues walking, walking up a long, long flight of stairs. 

“So, uh, can you say your name…?” Ryou tries. And the egao stops in it’s tracks again, it seems like processing information and walking is too much for the creature. “Y… uu… yuuut. Yutooo.” It struggles out, and Ryou sighs as it begins walking again.  _ Yuugo, Yuto… I think I'm seeing a theme here.  _

Eventually ‘Yuto’ reaches the top of the stairs, and the second Ryou opens his eyes, they are assaulted by hundreds of bright colours colliding over the walls. There are large, badly painted smiley faces splotched onto the the walls, staring him down. 

Ryou noticed that Yuto felt a bit uncomfortable as well, and he was soon put down. 

 

There was a boy, no older than fourteen, laying on a throne ‘chatting’ with an egao, who bore a mauve face and hair which was violet on top with magenta underneath. Yuto led Ryou to the boy, looking a tad apprehensive. 

Upon reaching him, Yuto bowed, and Ryou noticed the boy’s maroon cape and tinfoil crown, he had red eyes, and hair coloured like a tomato. The boy looked Ryou over, before gleefully bouncing out of his seat.

“Oh, hello! What's your name??” The boy laughed, and Ryou was filled with confusion. 

_ I-is… is the the person who orchestrated the end of the world…?  _ He wondered. Somehow feeling the pink egao’s glare on him, he gulped. “M-my name is… Ryou.” He spoke, and the boy’s grin grew further. 

“Ryou?! Oh, what a super duper name! My name is Yuya Sakaki, I’m the king!” Yuya loudly introduced himself, skipping towards ryou and looking at him from head to toe. “So, friend-” Yuya practically kisses him in the process of pressing his face to Ryou’s, and Ryou flinches. “- _ Why don’tcha tell me how Yuugo didn't infect you~?”  _ Yuya eerily whispers, and Ryou grits his teeth a bit. 

“I-I… I don't- I have n-no idea!” Ryou sputters, and Yuya’s smile wavers a bit. “Awww, you sure about that,  _ friend _ ?” He says in a warning tone, and Ryou gulps. 

“I-I… I’m telling the truth…” he mumbles, and Yuya suddenly grins bright. “Okay, friend! We’re gonna do you a favour and find out for you, okie dokie~?” Yuya giggles, backing away from Ryou. Yuto grabs Ryou a bit tighter, seemingly scared of what that could imply. “Ooooh!~ my besties are here!! Yuto, take my friend down to his friendship room!” Yuya told Yuto, who shivered a bit and pulled Ryou back to the staircase. 

Ryou looked back, seeing a little boy in a blue hoodie struggle and scream in Yuugo’s grip. He gives a curious look to the gray haired man slung over the egao’s shoulder. Yuto shoves him down the stairs, barely holding on tight enough to keep Ryou from smashing his head on the steps.

 

Yuto shoves Ryou into what seems like a jail cell, chaining him up on a wall. Ryou just grumbles, not bothering to fight the clearly stronger person. Yuto quickly stumbles away with a probably apologetic “Eggga...oooo….”

Ryou sighs, jingling the chains.  _ “H-hey. Host. Host? You there…?”  _ The spirit whispers. “You don't have to whisper, you know.” Ryou says in a hushed voice.  _ “Habit.”  _ It whispers, and Ryou rolls his eyes. “Dumb habit.” He whispers, and the Spirit sighs loudly.  _ “Not so dumb when you're a thief.” _ It hisses, but before Ryou can respond, the door swings open. There’s that Yuya, smiling bright with the pink and purple haired egao and Yuto at his sides. 

“Howdy, best friend!!~” Yuya sings, and Ryou almost rolls his eyes. “So, why don’t you tell me, what do you think it is that makes you not want to be my friend~!?” Yuya asks. 

_ Well, aside from the obvious…  _ “um. I-i’m really not sure, actually. I’m a downer at heart, maybe…?” Ryou suggests, and Yuya seems to get a bit angry, even though his smile remains untouched. “A downer…? Oh, that’s not good, not good at all!” Yuya grips Ryou’s shoulders, tight. “We don’t like having downers in  _ my  _ castle, now do we?? We need to get that sorted out right away!~” Yuya giggles, and Ryou swears the pink one flinched. “A-actually, I-- I don’t think that’s really necessary- b-because…” Ryou starts, gulping when he sees Yuya’s curious expression. 

“U-uh, I... I actually, do smile a lot…??” He mutters, and Yuya bounces with glee. “Really?! Why don’t you show me your super special egao, huh?~” he laughs, and Ryou’s mind races.  _ Fuck, will my smile be good enough…?  _

 

Ryou sighs, before grinning as brightly as he can. He hears the spirit’s anxiety as Yuya studies him closely, and then closer. “Mmm! It really is a nice egao…” Yuya hums, and Ryou almost thinks he’s out of the water. 

“-Buuuuut, i think with a bit of work, it could look even more egao!~” Yuya giggles, and Ryou sighs.  _ Of course.  _ “H-hey, how do you make something… ‘more egao’, anyways…?” Ryou cautiously asks.

“Huh~? How to make something…  **more egao…?** ” Yuya wonders aloud, staring a terrified Ryou down. 

“Why, that’s simple, friendo! You just add egao! A lot of egao!” Yuya laughs, and Ryou sees the two egaos shiver.  _ What the fuck. How do you add egao. How do y-  _

“Hey, bestie! I could make you more egao, too! Oh, you could be as egao as my friends here, but more!!” He continues, and Ryou’s mouth goes dry. “Wh-what on earth does that mean…?” he quietly asks, and Yuya’s grin only widens. “Do you want to find out~?” Yuya breathily asks, sending chills through Ryou. “N-n… not particularly, no…” he utters. “Oh… well, that’s a shame, friend!” Yuya bounces away from ryou, giving him room to breathe. 

“You know, lots and lots of mean people don’t want to egao with me, but I really think you just need time! Buuut… one of my older besties is here, he came to visit me with his little brother, isn't that really sweet of him~?”  _ I don’t even know who you’re talking about, why are you asking me. _

Ryou sighs. “Yeah. r-real sweet. You g-going to go say hi to him…?” he asks, and Yuya gives a psychotic smile.  _ Fuck, undo, undo, un-  _ “Huuuh~? Of  **course** I’m gonna say hi, he’s gonna egao lots and lots! He’s gonna egao his cute little face off, and then we’ll all be super duper happy!~~” Yuya sings, and Ryou scans the room uncomfortably. “U-uh huh. Why… why don't you go do that, then…?” He suggests, and Yuya laughs. “Of course, of course!” Yuya snickers, and very suddenly darts out the door, leaving the two egaos behind. 

The pink one almost seems astonished, looking between Ryou and the door as if in a daze. The other, Yuto, shrugs at him with a low “Eg... ao.” 


	10. Chapter 10

Jou gazes intently at the warm can of soup now firmly grasped in his hands, trying to see his reflection. Marik was bandaging up the large gash on his leg, muttering bitterly about him being stupid for picking fights while he’s half dead. 

Seto laid next to him, snickering annoyingly at Jou. “Gods, what are you two, children?! I seriously can’t believe you!” Marik spits, and Seto rolls away from him. “I mean, he’s a child…” Seto grumbles, and Jou shoots him a glare. “Am not! I think i’m  _ actually  _ older than you!” Jou hisses. “We are all sixteen-” Marik begins, before Seto cuts him off. “Dumbass! When were you born?!” Seto growls. “I was born on the twenty-fifth of October, mutt!” 

It goes quiet, and a huge grin spreads across Jou’s face. 

“Oh yeah? I was born on the twenty-fifth…  _ of January. _ ” 

a look of horror creeps onto Seto’s face. “N… no... “ Seto sputters. “Wait, the twenty-fifth of October? Huh, Kaiba, i’m two days older than you.” Marik says with a smirk, and Seto pales even more. “N-no… no... t-the mutt  _ can’t  _ be older than me!” Seto almost sobs, holding his head tight and curling up into a fetal position. “Oh, quit bein’ a drama queen, it’s just a number~” Jou says smugly. “B-but… oh, but… that means…” 

Seto gasps dramatically, sitting up and then letting his head drop, squealing a bit as it smacks the hard floor. “What the fuck was that?!” Marik hisses as he jumps a bit. “Hey, i think someone hid a piglet inside Seto…~ oh, wait, he probably shoved one up his ass or somethin’.” Jou snickers, and Seto gives an offended gasp. “Excuse you, I only shove quality things up my ass!” he huffs indignantly, and Marik bursts out laughing. 

“K-Kaiba, nobody wants to hear about what you do alone on a friday nig-” Marik starts, cut off by Jous roaring laughter. “Hey, hey! I saw that shipment of orphaned pigs you had mailed in to your house, Kaiba! You can't fool me!” He snickers, causing Seto to curl up and glare. 

“You know, if I really wanted a pig inside me, I’d just call you up.” Seto spits, and Marik covers his mouth. 

 

_ “Jesus, you’re ruthless-” _ Jou sputters, and seto smirks a little. “Here at Kaibacorp, we consider cruelty an asset.~” he hums, before rolling back over and snickering. “Holy fuck, Kaiba-I... “ Marik stutters. “Sometimes you have to kick a dog to remind it of it’s place, no big deal~” he taunts, looking at his fingernails and pretending to check them. 

“Y-you… YOU LITTLE SHIT!” jou roars,  darting towards Seto, before being caught by an angry Marik. “Girls, girls, your dresses are both pretty! Now sit the fuck down!” he warns, and Seto gives a little, shit-eating smirk. Jou growls as he slowly shifts himself onto the ground,  glaring daggers at Seto. “Hey, bastard, i’ll tell ya one last time, i ‘aint a dog! Drill it into your fuckin’ skull!” he hisses. 

“Huh? What, would you consider yourself more of a puppy~?” Seto smugly asks, causing Jou’s face to twist in fury. Marik sighs loudly, closing his eyes tight impatiently. “Dumbass! A puppy’s just a baby dog! I’m nothing like either!” Jou roars. “No, you're right, rat’s good too… street rat? Suits you well.” “I ‘AINT AN ANIMAL YOU DIPSHIT! I’M A HUMAN!!” Jou practically screams. “Huh, could’ve fooled me-” Seto begins, before Marik lets out a cry of anger and grabs them by their hair, knocking their heads together in a single, flawless movement. 

“KNOCK KNOCK, YOU’RE BOTH WORTHLESS LIKE THIS, WHY DON’T YOU TWO SPARE SOME FUCKING DIGNITY AND NOT ACT LIKE CROWS SQUABBLING OVER A CHUNK OF FOOD?!?” Marik screeches, and the two fall silent.

 

“W-well, I-” Seto quietly begins, and Marik sends him a look that would kill any normal man. “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT, WHAT, ARE YOU JUST FEELING LONELY BECAUSE YOU LEFT BEHIND THE ONLY PERSON WHO CARES ABOUT YOU?! BOO HOO, WE ALL LEFT PEOPLE BEHIND, YOU’RE NO SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE!” he screams, and Seto flinches in fear. 

Marik sighs, trying to regain his composure. Eventually, he stands, gripping Jou and Seto by their hair. “You two… are insufferable little brats…” he hoarsely growls, and they try to look away. 

“I’m separating you two, if you so much as look at each other, there will be severe consequences.  _ Capiche…? _ ” he snarls, and Seto whimpers. “C… capiche…” Jou mutters, and Marik shakes Seto roughly. “What about you?!” he spits, and Seto tries to shrink away. “C-capiche, s-sir…” he squeaks, and Marik then drops them. 

“I’ll be sure everyone knows about this rule, believe me. Now get your sorry asses out of here.” he growls, and Seto darts out as fast as humanly possible. Jou gives an odd look, before grunting and speeding off himself.

 

Seto stumbles into the main room, gasping for air. He crashes into the first thing- rather, person he sees. He barely hears a stoic voice yelp in confusion as he barrels into him, just barely missing knocking him to the floor. He hugs as tight as he can, mumbling and squeaking. 

_ Why can’t Mokuba be here, this is terrible, where is he, where is he, where is he.  _

Seto just quietly sobs into a man, who confusedly attempted to pry him off, to no avail. Seto looked up to see his face, finding dark blue bangs and ice blue eyes. Not a word was spoken, after a few minutes of trying to move Seto, the man sighed and pat his head a bit, causing Seto to feel the slightest bit better.

“H-hey…” Seto whispers, and the man looks at him. “Yes…?” he asks. “W-what’s… what’s your name…” Seto mumbles, and the man gives a confused look. “Kaito.” he says, his cold tone soothing to Seto.  _ I like him. _


	11. Chapter 11

Ryou’s eyes are wide open, staring through the bars on his cell door into the one beside him. Inside, Yuya had pulled a knife on the gray haired man, and was currently cutting his bare chest while he screeched in agony. 

Ryou sighs in empathy for the little boy sitting in the far corner of the room, sobbing and quietly telling Yuya to stop. The pink egao, whom he learned was named Yuri, had undone his chains despite the frantic warnings of Yuto. however, he was still trapped inside the cell, but the Spirit assured him it was all they needed. Ryou found himself oddly intrigued by the events in the other room, he felt as though he couldn't tear his eyes away. 

Not like it was part of Yuya’s magic, but more like it was pure morbid curiosity. He felt like he could watch for hours, just to see where it went and if the poor bastard would end up dead or not.

 

Ryou watches Yuya intently. 

“Hey, Reiji, you like egao, riiiight?~” Yuya sings in the man’s face, and he gasps in pain, “Y… yes, I-I do, p-please let me go…” he huffs, and Yuya grins. “Mmm? You don’t souuund very egao to me,  _ dearie!~ _ ” Yuya giggles, causing the man, Reiji’s eyes to widen. 

“D… dearie…? Y-Yuya, I th-think you’re mistaken, I’m n-” Reiji sputters, before screaming as Yuya stabs the knife deep into his thigh. “Aw, don't be silly, Ray-Ray! I think it fits you perfectly!” Yuya says, digging the knife through his leg, making Reiji thrash in pain. “Y-Yuya, Yuya it hurts, p-please, stop, please, please-” he begs, and Yuya tilts his head. “Hehe, don't look so blue, you’re my beeest friend! And y’know what? This is just helping you understand how amazing egao is! It feels bad to not egao! And, you're not egao right now!~” Yuya snickers, and Reiji just whimpers. “Wh-what… wh- how can I m-make you stop…?!” he asks with a twinge of hysteria in his voice, and Yuya grins wider. 

“Make me stop…? Aww, you're so funny, Ray-Ray!~” Yuya says happily, and Reji smiles a bit as well. It lasts for all of a moment, as yuya slams the blade into another spot, eliciting a long scream from Reiji. “Ah, it’s almost cute how oblivious you are, don't you know that you can’t be truly egao without this~?” Yuya asks, and Reiji just frantically shakes his head. Yuya snickers and throws the blade aside, petting Reiji's head. “Sweetie, you shouldn't be scared! Just be egao, you can express all the egao you want in here, there’s no meanie-weenies to be mad at you if you do, all we want here is egao and happy!” Yuya laughs, and Reiji looks down at his heavily bleeding leg in thought. 

Suddenly, he looks up, with an obviously  _ incredibly _ out of character smile. Even the little boy notices, looking weirded out. “Y-yuya! You’re right, a-all I need is eg… egao! H-haha!” Reiji practically sings, and Yuya’s sick grin softens and grows a tenfold. “Really?! Oh, Ray-Ray! I knew it would work, see?! Now you're all egao like me!! You look great, Ray-Ray! Oh, oh! I need to clean you up, don’t move, okie-dokie?~” Yuya laughs excitedly, and Reiji frantically nods. 

Yuya snickers in joy as he bounces through the door.

 

Ryou ducks and hopes Yuya didn't notice him looking. “ _ Does that kid really believe that he’s egao now…? I swear I could hear the desperation in his voice a mile away!”  _  The Spirit comments, causing Ryou to jump. 

“H-huh? When did you come back?” Ryou whispers to the annoyed looking spirit.  _ “Oh, just now. I didn't want to disturb your completely horrific lying. That guy is going through what you’ll be if you don't get out of here, pronto.”  _ it snidely says, and ryou gives it a glare. “Well, some of us aren’t trained in the art of being a bad person, it’s hard to lie in that situation!” Ryou huffs, and the Spirit grunts angrily. 

_ “Look, we need to get out. That’s all I’m saying. If you want a shot, we’d better do it now!”  _ the spirit hisses, and Ryou flinches when he hears Yuya springing back into the other man’s room. 

 

Reiji gives a sigh of relief as Yuya rolls up his pant leg and begins patching up his wounds.

“Mmm, poor Ray-Ray, your leg’s gonna need a bunch of nice stitches~!” Yuya hums, and Reiji flinches. “A-ah, yes, I’m sure it will-” Reiji resumes a smile when Yuya looks at him. 

“Well, don't worry, dearie! I’m good with sewing, you know?” Yuya laughs, causing Reiji to gulp in fear. “W-well, Yuya- I don’t really think that it’s necessary-” Reiji sputters, and Yuya grins. “Huh? Oh, of course it’s necessary! You're so funny, Ray-Ray!” Yuya exclaims, roughly ruffling Reiji’s hair. Reiji sighs. “Y-yes, Yuya. Very, very funny.” he mumbles, and yuya just jabbers on. 

“You know, i am so, so super glad you’re egao! C’mon, show me your pretty egao!~~” Yuya laughs, and Reiji shakily smiles again. Yuya giggles and pets his head. “Hey, I’m gonna leave you here so you can be egao, don't do anything silly, okie-dokie?” Yuya cheerfully says, and Reiji again nods. 

As soon as Yuya was in, he was out.

 

Ryou looks through the bars again after he’s sure Yuya is gone, and lets out a creaky “Hello?”

Reiji gives him a tired look, smiling slightly as the boy struggles with his binds. “W-who… who are y-you…” Reiji quietly speaks. “Ryou Bakura, Yuya trapped me here too.” Ryou clearly says, and Reiji shakes his head. 

“I’m sorry.” he mumbles, and Ryou cocks an eyebrow. “You’re sorry? For what?” he asks. “...I believe it would be logical to assume I’m a large part of the reason Yuya is like…  _ this. _ ” he gestures in the direction Yuya left to. “You know him?” Ryou asks, surprised. “Yes, I do. It’s a very long story, but-” “I’ve got time.” Ryou interrupts. 

_ “YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME, WE NEED TO BE ESCAPING-!”  _ the Spirit yells.

“Yeeeep, plenty of time.” 

“W-well, in that case-” Reiji sighs, attempting to stand, and failing. “-For starters, Yuya wasn't… doing the most wonderfully when this all started… he was caught up in jail, told that higher ups loved violence and and everything was going wrong, normally he was a very happy person who just wanted people to smile. He has a card, called Smile World, and a side of him that is much more angry and ruthless. I can’t figure out a lot of details, but I believe he activated Smile World during one of his violent episodes, and the clash of interests warped him. And now…” 

Reiji sighs. 

“Now he’s infatuated with a twisted version of ‘egao’”

 

Ryou hums interestedly. “Say, smiles? Pretty interesting. Speaking of which, in what world do you live in where higher ups encourage violence? I’m at least ninety percent sure violence during card games is prohibited at the very least.” he mumbles, ignoring the snickering spirit, and Reiji groans a bit. 

“See, this is where it gets… very confusing. You see, we were in the Synchro dimension, where everyone uses synchro monsters.” “Hold on, what’s a synchro monster…?” Ryou queries, and reiji sighs loudly. “You… you’ve never heard of Synchro summoning…?” he slowly asks, Ryou nods. “Yep, never heard of it.” Ryou says. Reiji huffs and pulls his deck from a pocket, trying to wave a white bordered card where it would be visible to Ryou. “What the- that’s weird, do they only have those types of monster in the Synchro dimension…?” “No, they have synchro monsters in Standard, as well.” Reiji says. “Huh? Standard?” Ryou asks. 

“Yes, Standard. You are from Standard.” Reiji tries to explain. “But, nobody uses those types of monsters, never seen one before in my life!” Ryou exclaims, and Reiji suddenly groans loudly. 

“Huh? What’s wr-” Ryou starts, and is cut off by Reiji. 

“I think… you’re from the fusion dimension.” he says. 

“Fusion…? Wouldn’t that imply that I use fusion monsters?” Ryou asks, and Reiji pushes his glasses up. “Well, not entirely. I'm sure not everyone from Fusion adores Fusion monsters- or maybe they do. I’m not one to make that assumption.” Reiji says deceptively calmly, and Ryou tilts his head. 

“Well… I suppose that could make a little sense, after all, both Yugi and Kaiba use fusion monsters-” Ryou slowly says, and Reiji’s eyes shoot open.

 

“Excuse me, did you just say… Yugi and Kaiba…?” he asks. 

“Hmm? Yeah, I did, why?” Ryou cautiously says. “those two… they’re long dead.” Reiji mumbles, and Ryou looks up in shock. “Wh… no, they're not! I just talked to Yugi a few days back before all this- Kaiba was there, too!” he sputters, and Reiji gives a more puzzled expression. 

“Well… that’s simply not possible, it would mean-” Reiji goes quiet for a second, staring at nothing.

“Wh-what would it mean…?” Ryou asks.

“Somehow, the timelines… they've all gone wrong. What do you last remember before all this?!” Reiji quickly asks. “W-well, we were all just finishing Battle City-” Ryou sputters. 

“S-so… it’s really true! Somehow, the dimensions are clashing and messing up time... “

_ What in god’s name does that mean?! _


	12. Chapter 12

Jou sighs, leaning against the wall of the main cave. _This is stupid, I cant even talk to him?? This is probably even worse!_ He grumbles annoyedly, sliding down the wall and sitting with crossed legs. _What would he say to make fun of me, hmm…_ _stupid is probably too on the nose…_

he looks up a bit impatiently when he notices someone walking towards him. “Hey, who’re you? Whadda you want?” he loudly asks, seeing a kid with brown hair and eyes.

“Hi, my name’s Judai!” he introduces himself with a grin. “And, I was given a note to give you! Don’t worry, i didn’t read it, I’m not all interested in love letters, haha!” he remarks, and Jou gives a confused look. “L-love letters…? Here, lemme see that!” he says a bit more shortly than he’d wanted, and judai drops the tightly folded paper into his hand.

 

Jou quickly unfolds it, almost annoyed at how meticulously _perfect_ the folds were. Upon finally unfolding it, he saw a few words that had obviously been scribbled on hastily. He reads it over a few times, before giving a small smile.

“Hey, sorry i was all short will ya, but thanks for this. Some things lift moods better than anythin’ else.” Jou laughs, and Judai gives a somewhat confused grin. “Really? What does the note say, then?” he asks, and Jou just looks back at the paper. “Ah, nothin’.” Jou snickers, and Judai gives a look, like he knows what it is. “You sure ya didn't read it?” Jou teases, and Judai throws his hands up.

“Whaaaat? What do you take me for, I’m not a crook! Reading other’s mail is not good at aaaallll…” Judai snickers, and Jou rolls his eyes with a little smirk. ”Oh, really~?” “Duh, really! Now get up and go meet your lover or whatever!” Judai laughs, and Jou sighs.

_I mean. It’s not like it wasn't written in a way which could make him think otherwise._

“Ah, no, not my lover! Never in a million years, got it?!” Jou loudly assures, and Judai just pulls him up and pats him quite roughly on the back as he shoves Jou out of the cave.

“Yep, I’ve totally got it, lady killer!” Judai laughs, and Jou audibly sighs.

 

“You know, that Judai kid _technically_ called you a lady.” Jou snickers, and Seto rolls his eyes. “Ah, that kid? That’s not very nice…” Seto hums, and Jou gives a grin.

“So, you wanted to meet me here? What, were you missing me already?” he asks. “Oh, yes! Who wouldn't miss your...“ seto sighs with a shitty grin. “Your _beautiful_ shit brown eyes.” he finishes.

“Shit brown? I’ll have you know that they're amber!” Jou huffs, and Seto starts to walk closer. “Huh, never really noticed. Guess I should have looked closer.” he somewhat snidely says, and Jou scoffs. “Of course you should have, this is why you-” Jou steps in a bit closer. “-are a terrible person.”

“y’know, sometimes i feel like i’m looking in a mirror when I see you like this.” Seto snorts. “Fuckin’ narcassist.” Jou laughs, and Seto shoots him a half-glare. “Hey, are you getting tired of this, too~?” Seto whispers, practically touching jou at this point.

“Huh? Of course, I was just waiting for you to say it, first.” Jou snickers, and Seto’s smirk grows a bit.

 

Jou hisses in mild shock and pain as Seto kicks his shin, grinning.

“Ah, bitch!” Jou spits, quickly punching Seto in the chest and sending him back a bit without breath. Seto gives Jou possibly one of the angriest glares he’d seen in a while before running towards him and slamming his knee into Jous leg. Jou grabs Seto’s leg with a grin, causing him to give a inaudible squeak as he slips backwards to the floor, knocking his head on the rock.

He gasps, trying to sit up despite his now aching head, but his efforts were quickly overcome when Jou sat on his chest, and Seto was knocked back to the ground. Seto just lays there, occasionally trying to push Jou off with shaky hands.

“Heh, didn't expect that, eh, moneybags?” Jou teases, and Seto sputters angrily and indecipherably. “Look! I won, and you lost! Oh, the ultimate shitlord has fallen, now we shall all rejoice!~~” Jou yowls, and Seto hisses. “F-fuck off, fucknut!” he spits, and Jou snickers.

“I swear to god, I’m never going to forgive you for this h-humiliation!” Seto growls louder, and Jou just laughs. “Oh, come on, you’re probably into it or somethin’.” Jou says, causing Seto’s face to heat up. “E-excuse me?!?” Seto stutters out. “Yeah, you heard me. You fuckin’ love it, am I right, or am I right?~” Jou teased, and Seto’s face just gets redder. “Hey, shithead! I’m not! A million times over, I’m n-” Seto growls.

“You know, if it were my decision, you’d be the one barking and wearing a collar, but unfortunately, that cookie doesn't always crumble how ya like!” Jou loudly laughs, and Seto covers his face in probable embarrassment and or shame.

Jou suddenly looks around a bit, squinting through the dark of the cavern. “Hold up, Kaiba, I think someone’s there, why don’t you start barking?”

“EXCUSE ME?!” Seto practically screeches, causing Jou to laugh.

 

Jou jumps a bit in shock when he hears a quiet _“I fucking knew it.”_ from the caves, looking around and trying to see.

“Eh? Who’s there!?” Jou hisses as a bright light assaults his eyes, and a man with orange hair is revealed thanks to the glow of a lantern. “Crow!” Seto desperately yells, reaching a hand towards him dramatically.

“Oh, hey, Seto! Nice to see you two are bonding!” Crow snickers, and Seto’s face falls. “H-huh?! Crow, it’s not that, help me!” Seto yelps, and Jou rolls his eyes. “Don't be a fuckin’ drama queen, Kaiba…” he mutters. “Wait, you need help? Doesn't look like it to me…” Crow curiously says, and Seto gives a confused look.

“H-he’s sitting on me! Make him stop, it h-hurts!” Seto fake sobs, and Crow’s eyes widen just a little. “Does it really hurt…?” he slowly asks, and Jou pipes up before Seto can answer. “Whaaat? No, we do this all the time! He loves it!” Jou laughs, and Seto whimpers. “Well, I’m not s-”

“PLEASE HELP ME, HE’S A FUCKING PSYCHOPAAAATH!” Seto screams, causing Crow’s eyebrows to shoot up.

“Really?? That’s horrible!” Crow loudly says, before mumbling to himself that every relationship has it’s rough patches. Crow quickly walks up to the two, before grabbing Jou and throwing him aside with surprising force.

At least, for someone who’s 5’7.

Seto gasps, looking up at Crow in awe. “You’re not too badly hurt, right..?” Crow asks, and Seto just nods quietly. Crow reaches out to grab Seto, holding his hand and pulling him up. Seto struggles to stand upright, rubbing the back of his head and staring at Crows hand.

“U-um, th… thank you…?” he almost whispers, and Crow grins. “Hey, it’s no pr-” Crow starts, before being cut off by Jou.

 

“Ha, gaaaaaaaaayyyyy.” Jou tiredly laughs, causing Seto to go bright red again and pull his hand away. “U-um, I d-didn't- it’s not like- I don’t even- u-ugh! Go away, asshole!” Seto spits at Crow embarrassedly, before dashing out of the cave, leaving Crow standing there in confusion.

“Wh… what the hell…?” Crow slowly asks, and Jou snorts. “That a feature of the world renowned, cool and collected Seto Kaiba. He gets really embarrassed over anythin’ even sorta romantic.” “Huh..? What does that even mean in this scenario, I just helped him up…?” Crow slowly asks. “Well, ‘aint it obvious?” Jou responds.

“Enlighten me.”

“The guy’s got a crush on you, duh.”


	13. Chapter 13

Ryou heard the Spirit grumbling about how stupid he was for staying, but he didn't care.  _ It’s not stupid to ask about an unfamiliar world!  _ Ryou sighs, looking in their direction. 

“I guess thieves don't talk much, do they…?” Ryou quietly asks, and the spirit jumps a little.  _ “What? No, that would be stupid. A good thief is quiet, duh.”  _ they respond.

_ Well, that makes sense.  _

“Well, then, you wouldn't understand the benefits of digging for information using other humans, I Suppose.” Ryou concludes.  _ “It’s not important. I can gather all the information I want al-”  _ it starts. 

“Oh, please, there’s  _ no way you _ ever could have suspected that there was even more than one dimension, let alone that dimension being fusion based!” Ryou almost yells, and the Spirit groans. “ _ What does that have to do with anything?! We’re still trapped here with impending torture! Let’s just leave already!”  _ it exclaims. “No, I want to learn more about these dim-” 

_ “You just want to watch him get tortured, right?!”  _

“I can’t... believe you would just… call me out like that... what kind of person are you...” Ryou huffs sarcastically.  _ “I’m your worst nightmare! Now get going, or I’ll force you to!”  _ the Spirit yells, and Ryou just sits on the floor defiantly.

_ ”No! Get up, idiot!”  _ the Spirit hisses. 

“Make me!”

 

Bakura had had just about enough. This… _Stupid, disobedient…_ ** _child_** would not listen to him! 

_ I think I’m being far more reasonable than I should be!  _

He grunts.  _ “You have one last chance to listen to m-”  _ he begins. “Nope! Not in a million years!” Ryou loudly says, and Bakura growls.  _ “That’s it, you little shit! I’m not taking any more!”  _ he hisses, before jumping into Ryou’s body, causing him to give a little cry of shock. 

“W-wait-!” 

 

Bakura grins, and stretches. “Ah, feels nice! I’ve been too nice for too long!” he laughs, and Ryou is nowhere to be found. He wobbly stands, grinning and planning an escape. 

_ Maybe I can wait until one of those smile abominations comes in, then I can- _

His thoughts were interrupted as the door swung in, and Yuya entered. “Oh? Ah, bestie! What are you doing up, where did you find hair gel in here~?” he giggles, and points at the infamous wings on Bakura’s head. “Hair gel? What the fuck do you even mean by that?” Bakura glares and asks. 

“Huuuuh? Why’d you swear, we don’t like swearing in here!~” Yuya sternly says, and Bakura rolls his eyes. “Suck an egao dick, fake king.” he grumbles, and the air goes cold.  _ “Fake king, you say…?”  _ Yuya growls, and Bakura matches his glare. “Did I stutter or something? F-a-k-e-r.” Bakura snorts with a shitty grin, and Yuya’s face twists with rage. 

“I… I am not… FAKE!” Yuya screams, and Bakura refuses to flinch. “Really? Who died and made  _ you _ king, I think even Aknamkanon was a better king than you!” he says loudly, grinning. 

“Tell me who that is.” Yuya demands. “Aknamkanon? Oh, yeah, that’s the guy who murdered my entire village in cold blood so he could make some jewellery.” Bakura coldly says, and Yuya smiles a little. “Aw, c-c’mon,  _ pal,  _ there’s no reason to make such  _ mean _ accusations, i’d never eeeever hurt people like that!~” he sings. 

“...But, you did.” 

“What? Didn’t hear ya, best friend!” 

“You… you literally zombified thousands and thousands of innocent people. Are you not  _ aware _ that they’re all practically vegetables…?” Bakura slowly asks, and Yuya freezes in thought. “V-vege… h… h-hahaha! Oh, you're… you’re so funny! Hahaha!~” Yuya laughs loudly. “Don't be silly, they aren't  _ vegetables _ ! Vegetables can’t walk, or talk, or-” Bakura cuts him off. 

“Does groaning the word ‘egao’  _ really _ count as talking…?” he sarcastically asks. “O… of course! Of course it does!-” Yuya gives a huge grin, walking toward him. “-Maybe you’d like to find out… what it’s like to speak like that…?” he offers, and Bakura spits at him. “Never! Not in a million years!” 

 

Yuya’s eyes darken with rage. “Really…” he hums, and Bakura steps back. “Well… I don’t think… you should  _ get  _ a choice.” Yuya quietly yet threateningly says, and Bakura gulps a bit. “I’m not scared of you, fake king!” Bakura hisses, and Yuya smiles a little. 

“As am I, runt.” he whispers.

 

And with that, Yuya quietly moves out the door, slamming it shut so hard that the door shook when it was thrown against the frame. Bakura smirks a little, running his hand against the wall. He gave the door another look, before running up to it and pressing on it lightly. 

_ Perfect.  _

He quickly looks out the barred window on the door, before slowly pushing the door open. As he peeked out the crack, he noticed a undone lock on the floor. 

_ Very, very stupid of you! You should work on your temper.  _

He smugly smiles, stepping out the door and bolting in the direction of the stairs, not bothering to even think about the people in the cell next to his. He just runs as fast as he can. He reaches the top of the stairs, and Yuya is sitting in his throne sideways coldly talking to an egao, this time it was Yuugo. Bakura ducked around a pillar, quietly catching his breath. 

He shoots from pillar to pillar, eventually reaching the large doors which were on the other side of the room to any egaos, or Yuya, for that matter. 

_ Bad at keeping his cool, bad at positioning his men… what sort of ‘king’ is he?!  _

Bakura quickly presses the door open and slips out, laughing as he hears yuya scream.


	14. Chapter 14

Jou sighed, laying on the ground bored out of his mind. _y’know, when the whole rush and terror of the world ending wears off... it's actually pretty borin’..._

He sits up and stretches, deciding to wander around, after all he barely knows anyone here, maybe he could find someone as bored as him. As he wandered around he heard a muffled confrontation from farther down the cave. curious, he got closer. He peeks around a corner, and sees a kid wearing a red jacket with Kuriboh hair giving a scared looking man with some metal gizmo on his head one hell of a death glare.

he could barely make out what they were saying.

“What, so you think capturing the souls of millions of innocent people will somehow bring back your dead kid?! Give me a break!” the kid growls, and the man flinches. “B-but, it makes sense-” “NO, IT DOES NOT!” the kid yells, face red in anger. “You have no goddamn idea!”

“B-but I’ve been researching this project for a very long time!”

“NO RESEARCH YOU COULD HAVE DONE WOULD HAVE PREDICTED ONE KID GOING INSANE, LEADING TO THE **ACTUAL END OF THE WORLD!** ” The kid almost screams, and the man steps back a bit. “W-wait, how do y-you know about-” he frantically asks. “It’s none of your fucking business!” the kid yells.

“But really, What the hell are you thinking?!” he hisses, causing the man to jump. “W-well, it’s simple! I-if a person is split between dimensions, you should just put the dimensions back together, and the person w-” he starts.

“What makes you think that?! What kind of idiot are you?!?” The kid hisses. “Well-” “There will no fusing of the dimensions on my watch! If I catch you so much as discussing your _amazing idea_ with someone, there will be hell to pay! _Got it?_ ” The kid practically snarls. “I-I really d-don't understand what’s s-so bad-” the man quietly tries to defend himself. “Oh, you sure do! I’m not stupid!” The kid growls, whipping around and glaring back at him, and his eyes suddenly glow dual colored, sending the man stumbling backwards in fear.

“No. Fusing. _Got it..?_ ” He icily asks, and the man nods furiously.

 

Jou jumps a bit and slips back around the cave wall as the kid walks out, eyes now normal.

“H-hey, what was that all ab-” Jou starts. “Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it.” The kid simply says, and Jou cocks an eyebrow. “Really? Seemed pretty heated to me…” he says a bit confusedly, and he kid waves his hand. “You wouldn't get it, just doing you a favour.” He says dismissively.

“Eh… sure. What’s your name, anyway?” Jou asks the kid, who smiles. “Name’s Judai. You’re Jou, right?” Judai says, and Jou grins, glad to hear his name. “Yep! That’s me!” He laughs, and Judai holds out a hand.

“Well, nice to meet you, then!” He snickers, and jou energetically shakes his hand. “Nice meetin’ ya too!” Jou laughs.

 

Judai and Jou were now walking around the caves, chatting about one thing or another. Like, where they were in life before this mess, and how they plan to survive.

You know, casual conversation.

“So, you’re sayin’ you’re really  _ not _ a kid at all?!” Jou says in a shocked voice. “What, do I really look like a kid?” Judai snickers, and Jou looks away. “Well, yeah…” he mumbles, eliciting a laugh from Judai. “I’m eighteen, remember it! What about you, you look older than-” “I’m sixteen.” Jou quickly says, causing Judai to look dumbfounded. “Really? Sixteen…??” he whispers. “L-look, I’ll have you know i’m the oldest sixteen year old i know!” he loudly says, and Judai laughs. “No, no it’s not that, you just… you look like an adult! You’re damn tall!” “Aww, ya flatter me. I don’t actually look a day over fifteen, trust me.” Jou says, looking a tad embarrassed. “Well, if you say so, sure!” Judai laughs, reaching up to pat Jou’s head. Jou gives a somewhat awkward laugh. “You know what, go back to saying I’m older than you please” Jou hastily says, and Judai bursts out laughing. “Huuh~? You sure changed your mind quick,  _ senpai! _ ” He snickers, and Jou covers his face with his hands. “N-no, not senp-” “Why not, senpai~?” Judai teases. “Well, senpai has never applied to m- WAIT, Say that sentence again!” Jou spits a bit embarrassedly. “Nah~” Judai laughs.

_ Is he  _ **_really_ ** _ eighteen…? _


	15. Chapter 15

Bakura ran, gasping for air as his lungs burned. He’d sworn he used to have more stamina than this!  _ N-NO MATTER!  _

At least, he hoped. 

“You k… know, I’d…. Hah, much prefer… a host that’s… not a shut-in…” Bakura gasps, clutching his knees and trying to catch his breath.  _ Dear gods, everything hurts, please strike me dead. Again.  _ He quietly sobs, hearing his  _ completely irritating  _ host speak. 

_ “Wow, that’s pretty rude. Who taught you manners.”  _ the now translucent boy sarcastically queries. “...N… nobody…” Bakura gasps, clutching his chest in pain.  _ “Wow, that explains everything. Clearly, you killed your parents with your annoying-ness. That’s why they weren't around… or, they just walked out. Pick your poison.” _ Ryou hums boredly, and Bakura grits his teeth with rage. 

“H-hey, y.... You little shit… i-i’mma f… fuckin’ kill you…” he growls out, stumbling up.  _ “Oh, my bad, did I hit a nerve or something?”  _ Ryou innocently asks, and Bakura sends him a death glare. “Whaddya think, little shithead?!” he hisses. 

_ “I mean, you could always be on your period, or something...“  _ Ryou mumbles

 

Bakura's eyes narrow, done with Ryou's shit, and through the mental link he sends a barrage of cold anger. 

_ “You think you're hot stuff? That you can just insult me and MY FAMILY and get away with it? So, you think my parents walked out on me do you? Like  _ **_yours_ ** _ did? Yeah, I’ve seen it all, host. your father can’t even bare to be in the same area as you, let alone look at you, and your mother died in a car crash with your  _ **_precious_ ** _ little sister, aw, bye-bye to the only two people who ever loved you! It’s sad, you have no real friends, a father who doesn’t love you and probably wouldn’t care if you died, he sure as hell doesn’t care about you being bullied.  _

_ You have nothing, host, your so-called friends can’t tell the difference between you and me, I doubt they even care if they do. Does anyone truly care about you anymore, host? You could die out here, and people would only see you as an unnamed casualty, an unlucky freak. You are weak, annoying, stupid, and a whiny mess who thinks he's special. surprise, you are not. You aren’t worthy to carry the name Bakura, and you aren’t worthy of your white hair. Honestly I'm surprised the ring didn't kill you itself! Your a worthless host and even more worthless human being!” _

Bakura then shoved the stunned Ryou back into his painful and tired body and went to stew in rage and break things in his soul room. 

 

Ryou was shocked. Not your average shocked, but, the kind of shocked when you find out your family died. That’s how he felt, anyways.

_ Was he really… that mad…? _

Ryou shakes his head, cursing a bit as he collapsed onto the hard ground.  _ D-damn idiot…   _

he didn't know if he should be more angry about that fucking spirit using up all his energy, or…  _ that shit. _ “H-hey, I didn't mean it…?” Ryou slowly says, sighing when he hears no answer. 

He gloomily forces himself up, hissing in pain, and trudges along, mind stirring due to his other self’s...  _ comments _ . He shakes a bit, eventually collapsing on the ground again. 

His ears twitched, hearing a faint motorcycle, and his eyes widened in fear, _ n-no, they can’t... there’s no way they could have realized that fast, t-that can’t be Yuugo!  _ He tried to stumble to his feet to run, but whenever he tried, he just collapsed again, exhausted. _ Curse that idiotic, stupid spirit! We’re going to be caught again because he used every ounce of energy! He’s only made things worse!  _

_ Oh, why did I even take the ring?! _

He stared at the ground in fear, waiting for his fate, hearing the motorcycle park near he closed his eyes, fearing death. and then, he heard a calm and somewhat deep, and more importantly not infected, voice. 

“Hey are you okay? A kid shouldn’t be out here on there own, do you need some help?”

 

Ryou's eyes shot wide open, and he whips around to face the voice. “Huh? Who- what??” Ryou sputters, confused.  _ How would he… how is he… ??? _

“Hey, what’s your name…? Come on, you shouldn't be on the ground…” a tall man lightly holds Ryou, pulling him to his feet. “H-huh…? R-ryou, my name’s… Ryou.” Ryou gasps, a bit winded, and the man gives a kind smile. “Ryou? Nice name.” he says, letting go of Ryou and just holding his balance by his hand. “So, need any help, Ryou?” he says a bit softly, as if to not startle Ryou, or something. “Um, yeah, well, i just escaped from th-that castle-” Ryou points at the large structure, and the man hums. “-I’m trying to get back to a mountain, there’s a group of refugees there.” Ryou finishes, and the man taps his chin in thought. “A mountain…? Well, I’m sure I could get you there.” he slowly says, and Ryou smiles at him. “You think? It’s damn cold up there.” he says, causing the man to laugh softly. “Well, my runner can get anywhere, might have to stop on the way for some winter tires, though.” he tells Ryou, who laughs. “Well, thank you! Honestly, the stupid spirit inside me used up all my energy and… he…” Ryou slows to a stop at the man’s quizzical look. 

“A spirit, you say…? He asks, and Ryou nods, not bothering to consider the suspicious smirk on his lips. “Yeah, a spirit. That might be a little weird, I guess.” Ryou slowly says, and the man shakes his head a bit. “Well, I suppose that’s not the strangest thing I’ve ever encountered… anyway, hop on, and we’ll be on our way.” 

Ryou laughs weakly and sits in the odd red bike, leaning on the conveniently backed seat.

 

The man quickly hops on the bike, loudly revving it up and zooming off at a barely legal speed. Ryou sighs, relaxed, and leaning as far as he can without a tinge of doubt in his mind.

“So, you  _ do _ know which mountain you want to go to, right?”

_ Shit.  _

“Well, uh, not really? I was knocked out. The one I do want to go to will have light in it at later hours... “ Ryou quietly says, and the man sighs a little. “Well, i guess we should wait, then. Let’s get a bit closer, and then we can camp out until we see lights.” he concludes, and Ryou lightly hits himself for not bothering to remember where he came from. 

Ryou now finds himself sitting behind a man, his hair resembled a hedgehog of the sonic variety. Not like Yuugo, but more….  _ edgy.  _ the owner of this outrageous hair was anything but, obviously kind hearted and calm.  _ I wonder how many he’s lost…  _

_ Guess it’s not my business. _


	16. Chapter 16

Seto laid face down on the cold ground, bored out of his mind. The coldness numbed him and made him forget the bullshit that is his life, it was as cold and unforgiving as his soul and, truly, life wa- 

“What in the world are you doing. Do you realize you are saying that out loud?”

 

Seto jolted to a sitting position, more embarrassed than he could remember since his last loss to the Other Yugi, but seeing Kaito’s deadpan could almost beat that embarrassment. 

“H-hah! Of course- of  _ course _ i know! I am an  _ extremely  _ self aware and composed... per…. son…….” Seto’s loud speech slowed to a halt as he realised that Kaito wasn't buying any of it. 

“Really? Is that why you tackled another survivor, even though he was at death’s doorstep?” the gray eyed man blandly said, looming over Seto. “Okay- i’m sure it wasn't  _ that  _ bad-” Seto starts. “The guy ended up losing a toe.” Kaito said as coldly as the floor digging into Seto’s ass. 

“My, my,  _ how unfortunate.”  _ seto grumbled. 

“You don’t care at all, do you…?” 

“No, no I don’t.” kaito says with a small eyeroll. “ _ You look suspiciously like you care,  _ l-let me put it in perspective, you look like a guy with a lot of enemies-” Seto says quickly, and Kaito looks away. “-so, which one would you hope lost a foot?” Kaito gives a look at him, before sighing. 

“Myself.” Seto resists the intense urge to presume that it’s just an edgy kid joke, because this guy… he’s…  well, he doesn't seem the type to make jokes like that…?

 

“I mean… that’s… nice…?” Seto says awkwardly, unsure how to handle the situation. Kaito glares a bit, and he sighs. “Look, I know saying ‘I relate’ is damn edgy, but, I relate…?” he mumbles, and looks away before Kaito can catch his eyes.

“...Why?” he suddenly speaks. “Why…? Shitty parent, dead parents, general ceaseless agony inside my cold, dead soul. You know,  _ no reason. _ ” Seto grumbles. “Really… well, have you ever stolen the souls of innocents because a maniac told you it would help your brother get well…?” Kaito asks, and Seto swears that his eyes resembled those of a fish. 

A dead fish. 

Who had a shitty life. 

_ You know what, this is a bad example. _

Seto shrugged, and Kaito began talking again.  “Also, have you died recently? On the moon, specifically-” Seto spoke up before he could finish asking. “I had my soul ripped from my body once, that counts, right?” Seto says, and Kaito looks away. “...Do you  _ really  _ want to keep talking about this?” he coolly asks, and Seto loudly sighs. 

“ _ Aw,  _ how I greatly enjoy bringing up my  _ extremely traumatic past.  _ I think I  _ would _ like to continue!” he says, Kaito just gives him a look and sits next to him. “What are y-” 

“Shut up.” Kaito mumbles, taking out his duel disk and turning it on. 

Despite Seto’s wanting to bitch about being disrespected, because that’s bullshit, he was interested in the odd shape of the disk. “Huh? I’ve never seen a disk like that… why’s it shaped like that? Is it custom? Did you make it???” Seto points to it, visibly intrigued. Kaito pulls the disk away from his hand, giving an annoyed look with his indefinite resting bitch face. “Yes, it’s custom. They’re all cust-” 

“The only duel disks i’ve seen are the ones I made!” Seto exclaims, causing Kaito to be taken aback. “Well, um, I don’t think we’re from the same a-” he starts, being cut off yet again. “Hey, can I hold it? It looks well built! Normally, I would say, ‘that’s natural!’ but, I didn’t-” Seto jumps back as Kaito gently, but not warmly places his palm on Seto’s face. 

“Look, listen to me for a minute. I think there must be some mistake- especially someone like  _ you _ creating the duel disk system. If you did, you’d be dead, so you’re either a incredibly stupid liar, or there’s been a mix-up in the timelines, or something.” kaito somewhat cautiously says, causing Seto to sport and offended look. 

“Liar?! I’m not a liar! Only stupid people and mutts lie!” Seto growls, and Kaito folds his arms with an eyeroll. “Well, maybe I should ask around. What’s your name.” he asks, deadpan harder for some reason. 

“Kaiba.” Seto says, voice getting somewhat defensive.  _ How dare this imbecile not know who I am?! He should know! Of course he should know, everyone knows!  _

“Kaiba… as unlikely as this is, I swear I’ve heard that name before.” Kaito says, turning to look away from Seto.  _...that doesn't make it better. Punk.  _

 

“...so, Kaiba, you think these people will know your name…?” Kaito says, and Seto wobbly stands with an indignant huff. “I was already recognized, it’s your fault for living under a rock!” he practically yells, and Kaito sighs. 

“You know what you can use to answer almost any question you have regarding ninety percent of everything you encounter here?” he asks, and Seto gives a annoyed look. “It’s time travelling bullshit.” he finishes, and Seto glares. 

“Why should I believe you, mister ‘I died on the moon’?!” he asks, and Kaito sighs. 

“I’d argue that that’s a good reason to believe me, you clearly don't have exposure to things of that nature-” he says. “Yeah, that’s because I don’t get myself killed on alien moons!” 

“ _ Kaiba, the moon isn't really an alien moon, humans know a lot about it.”  _ Kaito sighs irritably. “You know what? The moon can be as god damn alien as it wants, because I don’t know anything about it, it’s alien to me! Prick!” Seto yells, and Kaito looks up at him with surely something that is not  _ quite  _ anger in his eyes. 

“...I mean. You’re not wrong. You should become a lawyer, or something.” he says in a more human sounding way, and Seto cocks an eyebrow.   
  
“A compliment? Or, am I hearing that wrong?” Seto asks, and Kaito shrugs. “Sure, it can be what you want. Whatever.” he says, stepping away. 

“Look, I don't know what anything that’s happening is, and honestly, I feel like I should know, this kind of thing does tend to get me involved, after all. This kind of thing doesn't seem like something any of you would have experience in. I might ask around about you, might not. Good luck not dying.” he says dismissively, now somewhat slowly walking off. Seto sighs, letting himself fall back to the floor.

_ What a mess. _


	17. Chapter 17

The fire crackled and a shivering Ryou desperately tried to warm himself while the stranger silently warmed his hands, keeping a sharp eye out, it was silent, but not a bad silent. 

Ryou looked at the stranger, wondering what those marks on his face were, or even his name. He bit his lip a bit awkwardly, unsure how to approach the subjects. Eventually he decided the best way would be to just ask 

“Excuse me, I probably should have asked earlier, but what’s your name?” 

The man gave an interested look, blinking at the question. “Hm? My name’s Yusei.” he said simply. “Yusei, huh…? Well… alright. So, uh, where’d you get that thing?” Ryou asks, pointing to the red motorcycle parked nearby. 

“That’s my d-wheel, of course. Haven’t seen one before?” Yusei hums, and Ryou nods. “Well, if I’m being simple, it’s just a motorcycle that you can duel on. I made that one.” Yusei continues, and Ryou looks at it in mild shock. “You can duel on it…? Really? Isn’t that dangerous?” Ryou asks, concern tinging his voice and he leans forward a bit. “Well, yes. But, that just adds to the fun, anything is more fun when it’s dangerous.” Yusei calmly responds. 

_ Is he trying to say that he’s some sort of daredevil type…?  _ Ryou shakes his head. “Would it really be fun if you were splattered against a wall in the rubble of your bike thing? You’d be as red as it…” he laughs a bit, and Yusei looks away. 

“...I wear a helmet…”

Yusei slowly says, and Ryou laughs louder. “Yes, I’m sure that would protect you from having your entire body crushed~” Yusei quickly points to his kneepads, and Ryou snorts as he looks to the bike. “Interesting theory, if you want to think that, maybe a full-body helmet would be great for you.” he remarks. “You mean, like a racing suit…?” Yusei asks, looking at him. “Yeah, sure-” Ryou mumbles, before his eyes widen a bit and he looks at Yusei. 

“Wait, if there’s ‘racing suits’, how come you’re wearing…  _ that _ ?” ryou asks and motions to Yusei’s lack of racing suit. “Well… um, never got my hands on one. It’s not like they're really cheap, you know.” Yusei sighs, causing Ryou to snicker a bit.

 

Ryou watched as Yusei’s eyes wandered over their surroundings, flat land surrounded by many mountains and hills, with domino in the back in the direction opposite of the mountains. Yusei seemed to have an odd look in his eyes when looking at the city, like he was trying to piece together some puzzle. 

“...anything wrong? You look concerned.” Ryou comments, holding his hands closer to the fire. “...I feel like i’ve seen that cityscape before, but not quite. Like, something is off about it… you get what I mean, right?” Yusei hums, brows furrowing a bit.  _ Really, it looked exactly the same as always.  _ “Well, not really. Maybe it’s just this unnerving atmosphere…?” Ryou suggests. “No, that can’t be it.” Yusei shakes his head a bit and stares at the city more. 

Ryou shrugs, for all he knew, this guy could also be delusional. Ryou gazed at the mountains, not really wanting to look at Domino any more. The sun was setting, and it was beautiful. He wasn’t quite sure if he’d ever seen it bright like this, and he waved at Yusei to catch his attention. “Hey, look.” he said unintentionally quietly, pointing to the sun. he watched with a little smirk as yusei’s eyes widened, him looking bewildered. 

“It’s impressive, right?” Ryou asks, and Yusei nods a bit. “Yeah… do you think they’d be lighting fires, yet…?” Yusei mumbles, probably unaware of his own words. “Probably, but we wouldn't see them. Note the whole ‘bright sun’ thing.” Ryou huffs, moving to examine Yusei out of boredom. 

His face looked calm, yet intrigued, and he was a bit tanned. His eyes were blue, a very nice shade. Probably one you could just buy right at the start of a process, no mixing involved, paint-wise. Ryou’s eyes quickly move the a  _ very interesting _ clover patch next to Yusei, who had noticed Ryou’s eyes digging into him. 

 

“Hey, I think I saw where your friends might be.” Yusei suddenly says, and Ryou’s eyes shoot up to look at him again. “H-huh? Oh, okay. Well, we should head over th-” Ryou starts. “Who are your friends, exactly? Why are they up there?” Yusei asks and cuts Ryou off. Ryou sighs. “Well. I only know a few of them personally, it’s a group of random people. There’s Marik, and there’s some weird guy in a purple coat, and Kaiba-” 

“Kaiba?” Yusei asks, tilting his head. “What, is he dead to you?” Ryou asks nonchalantly. “Well, no, but which one? One of them is half dead, and the other-” 

“Seto, Seto Kaiba. What’s this about one being half dead…?” Ryou quickly asks, and yusei shrugs. “Seto… yeah, he’s the old one. He’s in his late sixties and looks like he might drop dead most of the time.” he says, tapping his chin. “Huh. so he’s not dead, just old…? Someone else I ran into said he was dead, and to me, he’s sixteen, same age as me and my friends.” Ryou hums, and Yusei gives a curious look. “Sixteen… how peculiar. That makes me older than a man who’s decades older than me, right?” yusei asks, and Ryou pauses. 

_ Well, that’s not… wrong… _

“U-um, I don’t think you should consider them the same person-” “But, they are the same person. If older kaiba were to come to this world by mistake and meet himself, what would happen?” Yusei seriously asks, and Ryou shakes his head. 

“Y-you're getting a bit ahead of yourself, I th-” “No, no, I want to see what happens, I’m going to make this happen, somehow.” Yusei mumbles, folding his hands over his face. “You, uh, really shouldn’t” Ryou quietly says, laughing a bit nervously. 

_ Do we reeeally want to know… _

Ryou decided the answer to that was definitely no. Ryou shivered a bit as he stood. “Look, do you have any clue what could happen if you managed to get the same person from two differing timelines to meet? It could endanger everyone!” Ryou explains, causing Yusei to sigh. Ryou rolls his eyes and looks back at the horizon, noting that that he could see the stars he couldn’t hold back a small bit of awe. 

“Woah.”

Yusei nods and looks to the stars, before speaking. “We should move on, I can see the base, and we shouldn’t waste time. we can admire the stars on the way.” Ryou nods in agreement and Yusei extinguishes the fire and mounts the bike, closely followed by Ryou. 

  
Ryou sits behind Yusei on the bike, leaning in to the large and likely not very aerodynamic seat back. Yusei was quiet as he started it up, flicking all kinds of switches. Ryou decided to remain quiet as well, silently praying that he’d be fine without a helmet. Ryou gritted his teeth nervously as the engine roared, holding on to a somewhat uncomfortable Yusei tight as the motorcycle sped off. 

He really couldn't at all grasp how Honda and Marik enjoyed these things, besides being fast, they offered little else, except maybe a broken neck. Ryou began to examine the bike as he began to realise he wasn't going to be the idiot who died in a motorcycle crash during the apocalypse. There seemed to be a duel disk clearly attached to the controls of the bike, collaborating with Yusei’s story of… ‘card games on motorcycles’... 

_ that still sounds hilarious, I have to see that some day.  _ Ryou sighs and holds on to Yusei tighter.

 

Over the next hour, Yusei and Ryou rode to the mountain, not encountering any egaos. Ryou briefly wondered why, but it seemed that the egao had some kind of pack mentality. As the two rode up the snowed-over road that seems to have been created, the memories of the freezing cold flooded back. He was convinced this was the place, it was probably too late to turn back, at least for him. 

Yusei seemed ambivalent to the cold, and Ryou was unsure if his shivering was from the cold, or if it was just the bike vibrating. after a good amount of driving, Yusei’s bike skidded to a halt on a massive ledge of stone. Yusei’s sight lingered on the black runner that was parked under a shelf of ice and rock, before he hurriedly got off his bike and lifted Ryou off of it. 

Ryou grunted slightly, shakily standing and leaning on Yusei. 

“We’re here.” Yusei says, face showing a small bit of surprise.


	18. Chapter 18

Jou was walking around, trying to get used to the fact that damned mountain climb had actually frostbitten some of his toes to where they had to be removed, and it had hurt, a lot. Marik had said any less stubborn person would have fainted from pain, but whatever. It’s over, and the cold had numbed the toes a good chunk so he didn't really feel anything painful that to him would knock him out. Though apparently that's why it had to be removed, but there was no reason to think about it anymore. “ _Although, I might not have lost those toes if that good-for-nothing Kaiba had actually helped me...augh! I hate his smug face! I bet he’d get all boasting about not losing any toes if he found out, the ass."_ He bitterly thought to himself

 

He heard the faint roar of a motorcycle, and headed over to the sound in confusion; Crow was still at the base, wasn’t he? So who could that be? He heard a cry of Bakura's name and headed over much faster, was Ryou in trouble? Ryou had disappeared almost as soon as he arrived, a few people panicked but personally he just had assumed he went to look for his dad or that asshole spirit made him leave, hopefully he had just returned and wasn't some snow bitten corpse just outside, hidden by the snow Jou suddenly shivered. that.... was not a pleasant mental picture.

 

As he got closer he slowed his pace as he began to hear arguing and very loud screaming “RYOU WHATEVER YOUR MIDDLE NAME IS BAKURA! WHAT IN RA’S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?!“ what sounded like Marik yelled at most likely Ryou.

 

“You guys needed supplies, I was immune, leaving to get supplies just seemed logical.” Sounds a lot like Ryou replied simply.

 

“SEEMED LOGICAL?! _SEEMED LOGICAL?!?!_ IS THAT WHY YOU LEFT WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE?! MAKING EVERYONE PANIC?! YOU THOUGHT IT WAS FUCKING LOGICAL! Marik screamed, seemingly very pissed

 

“You would have just tried to stop me! Even the spirit tried to stop me from leaving!” Ryou weakly defended himself, any confidence what he was saying quickly starting to drain.

 

Jou could tell there was no way that would fly well, and he was proven correct because right after Ryou said that Marik fucking exploded in anger “FOR ONCE IN HIS IDIOTIC LIFE, BAKURA HAD THE RIGHT FUCKING IDEA! DON’T YOU DARE LEAVE LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN YOU FUCKING MORON! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, HOW COULD YOU THINK IT WAS SMART?” Marik screamed at the top of his lungs making Jou flinch a bit from the noise, he wasn't even this angry when he had the fight with Seto and man could that boy yell.

 

“Alright alright! I won't leave without telling anyone again, promise” Ryou sputtered out to probably try and not get Marik to murder him in _cold_ blood.

 

Jou snickered a bit, proud of himself for the pun even if it wasn't really the time. He heard Marik take a deep breath to calm down before asking curiously “Now, who is this mysterious biker you’ve brought? Not someone you’ve pulled into this insane scheme I hope.”

 

As Jou stopped mainly listening and actually got closer he could actually see the interesting scene of Marik holding Ryou by the ear while some stranger with weird pointy hair that kinda reminds him of Yugi a bit and similar weird yellow tattoos like the ones Crow has watched awkwardly. The man quickly replied “Yusei, Yusei Fudo, and no I just gave him a lift back here when he looked dead on his feet.”

 

With a sigh Marik runs his free hand down his face “Thanks for taking care of this _moron_ then Yusei, if you need anything while you're here, go see Crow.”

 

Yusei subtly perked up a bit, eyes slightly widening in surprise and a bit excitedly he asks, “Crow? Does he have orange hair and face markings like mine?!”

 

Marik gave him a confused look, and simply says “Yes, now I need to go give this reckless buffoon a check up. Crow should be around somewhere.” Dragging a sighing but not protesting Ryou to the medical cave.

 

Yusei blinked at the strange scene before walking more into the cave, Jou, having seen that Crow a few minutes ago hurried over to him, “Hey dude with the hair! I saw Crow a few minutes ago, I should be able to take you to him!”

 

Yusei looked at Jou in surprise, probably wondering where he came from, before giving a small smile “Really? Thank you he's a friend of mine and I've been worried.”

 

Jou just flashed a grin,“It's no problem, in all this chaos not knowing if your friends are safe has got to be one of the worst parts. C’mon, he should be over here!” Starting to walk through one of the tunnels while Yusei quietly walked behind him.

 

As they walked Jou saw a familiar red jacket and called over to Judai, “Hey Judai! Do you know if Crow is still this way?”

 

Yusei’s eyes widened more as Judai turned around and replied“Yeah, he should s- Yusei, is that you?!”

 

Yusei gave Judai a smile, “Yeah it’s me, I honestly didn’t think I’d ever see you again. I figured when the three of us parted that was it, I’m glad I was wrong it's great to see you.”

 

Judai rubbed under his nose “Well yeah, I figured if I ever saw you again it’d be quite the _Paradox_!” He started to rub his chin in a bit of thought though “I suppose I was right then, everything about this is paradoxical.”

 

Yusei groaned a bit but smiled and Jou looked between the two confused. Judai flashed a bigger grin “Well I suppose it’s _time_ to actually get to know you.” Yusei groaned louder.

 

The groans only made Judai grin larger, “Well don't be _dragon_ your feet, it's been rather _malefic_ lately, so you should probably go see your friend!”

 

Yusei pinched his nose in fake annoyance unable to repress a chuckle “Since when did you know what words like malefic meant?”

 

Rubbing the back of his head Judai gave a more sheepish smile chuckling a bit “I maaaay have looked it up online after everything was said and done?”

 

“”So did I actually, it's not really a common word.” Yusei said simply, making Judai look less sheepish.

 

Jou watched the two banter a bit more and gave an even more confused look before finally just shrugging and asking “So are we still going to see Crow then? Or are you going to play catch up with Judai?”

 

Yusei blinked in surprise and gave Judai another small smile “It was nice seeing you again Judai, but I really should see Crow, we can catch up later.”

 

Flashing a thumbs up Judai grinned at Yusei, “Go get ‘em tiger, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you.” he encouraged his friend.

 

With a wave of Jou’s hand they were walking again, Jou couldn’t help but wonder about what he had just witnessed. “ _So they know each other? Crow didn’t recognize Judai though, and what was with that emphasis on paradoxes and time and shit? Man, I hate being on the outside of inside jokes!”_

  
Soon, they arrived at where Jou had last seen Crow. Yusei let out a “Crow!” and Crow turned around in surprise with a “Yusei?!”


	19. Chapter 19

Ryou could only sigh as he was painfully dragged away by the ear, this wasn't going to be pleasant and his ankle was stiffening up for god knows why. Marik was clearly pissed as well, he could only hope he wouldn't die, after all he had to go back to that mall and get the dropped bag.

 

_ “Wow host, you could have died but you’re going to go back and finish the heist anyway? Perhaps I could actually make a proper thief out of you yet!” _ The spirit annoyingly commented, seemingly over being angry to Ryou's dismay.

 

Ryou bit back a reply, not wanting to comment and get into two fights at the same time, especially since it seemed the spirit had finally calmed down after their last argument. He gave an oof as Marik shoved them into sitting on the floor of the cave, poking and prodding him, grumbling. Ryou could only sit there, before Marik suddenly touched his stiff ankle and looked at him with a serious look “And when did you sprain your ankle in all of this?” Marik bluntly and sternly asked.

 

Ryou blinked in surprise not expecting Marik to actually find anything beyond minor scraps, “I sprained it? I don't feel any pain though? Are you sure?” Ryou thought for a bit, 

“Well actually...  it might have been when I was leaving.”

 

_ “I've been blocking off the pain so you don't die because you can't handle walking on something small like a sprained ankle, you're oh so welcome host.”  _ The spirit informed his groaning host.

 

“And you've been doing Osiris knows what on it for  _ days?! _ How do you even not notice a swollen and sprained ankle?!” An exasperated Marik asked in disbelief, done with everything. 

 

“In my defense apparently my... tenant has been blocking out the pain. It's not serious right?” Ryou defended himself, somewhat worried about his ankle.

 

Marik gave an obvious fake smile and cheerfully replied “Oh not serious, it’s not like you most likely permanently injured it or anything at aaaaaall!” Ryou blanched at the thought and Marik sighed, smile dropping and he continued “At this point I have no clue what you’ve done to it, we’ll just have to try the limited treatment I can give and hope for the best. Luckily we have plenty of snow for swelling, but we’re gonna need to get that ankle elevated while swelling goes down, that’s about all I can do, I’ll go see if I can find something to prop it up. For now lets just get you to where we put your sleeping bag. If I catch you trying to walk while it heals there will be hell to pay.”

 

With a small grunt Marik quickly picked up the caught off guard Ryou who gave a yelp “H-hey what do you think you’re doing?!” 

 

“Carrying you to the sleeping bag so you can rest, duh.” An exasperated Marik answered simply as he starts to walk.

 

“Is it really necessary?!” Ryou asked, starting to blush from being carried.

 

“To not aggravate your ankle, of course. Be thankful Bakura decided to do something to actually help someone for once in his life or you’d be begging me for pain killers.”

 

_ “Well that's kinda rude, I helped him before, tell him that he’s an ass and I hate him host!”  _ Bakura told Ryou with glee, wanting to annoy Marik.

 

Ryou rolled his eyes and loudly said, making sure Marik could hear “I am not helping you hate flirt with him, I thought you got your fill of that in Battle City!”

 

Marik laughed to Ryou’s surprise “Oh he could never be full with just Battle City, he’s just starving, wanting to be filled with my  _ attention _ all the time.”

 

Ryou howled with laughter as he heard Bakura actually sputter  _ “I what no! Don’t listen to him! He’s a lying douche! We never did anything like that! He’s the one who was always trying to get attention! I have never even thought of doing something like that with that self entitled brat! Host stop believing the brat over me!” _

 

With a snicker Ryou poked more fun at the spirit “Methinks the lady doth protest too much!” Hearing the spirit scream with rage and frustration only made him laugh harder, oh this is fun!

 

Both of them laughed happily as Marik carried him towards the resting area, trading barbs at Bakura’s expense, alas good things had to end and Ryou was set down next to a blonde woman, who was staring at the fire, she had a strangely military like outfit but Ryou decided he had seen much much weirder. Marik turned to the women and said “This is Ryou, he sprained his ankle, while you’re here try and keep him from moving, he’s a stubborn ass who will probably try and get away if you turn your back, because he’s an idiot-” he turned to Ryou “this is Gloria, don’t even try to scare her off.” 

 

Ryou gave an angelic look that made Marik snort “Me? Scare her off? Why Marik it sounds like you don’t trust me!” 

 

Marik deadpanned at Ryou “That’s because I don’t you pest, just lay there and play nice like a good boy.” Walking off to find something to prop up the ankle. 

 

The girl, Gloria, stared at him, eyes flickering to his hair, Ryou looked at her in confusion as she seemed to get saddened at seeing it. Never the type to just let an opportunity for a bad joke pass he started to joke “Heh don’t worry, despite the hair and helping with murders I am not actually the grim reaper!”

 

Gloria quickly looked away “Is this really the time for jokes? This is a very ser- wait murder?” she looked over at him again squinting, not sure if he was joking.

 

“Yeah crows seem to love me! ...Get it? Because a bunch of crows are called a murder?” Ryou responded with a shitty grin that made Gloria slam her face into the floor and groan. 

 

After few seconds of groaning she propped her head back up and rubbed where she banged it. “I already don’t like you, stop smiling.” she bluntly said, looking back at the fire.

 

Ryou sighed and tried to settle on the sleeping bags, normally that broke the ice but it seemed it upset Gloria, oh well. 

 

_ “Don’t give up your night shift, that was awful, you should be stoned for even thinking of it. You should be stoned for even thinking of it.”  _ the ever helpful Spirit commented, once again getting an idiom wrong.

 

Any hint of a smile dropped off Ryou’s face and he sighed annoyedly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Its don’t give up your day job, stop using idioms.” he mumbled under his breath. 

 

_ “Why? Are they riding you up a pole? Wait no, Ryou stop snickering!” _ The Spirit snapped at the now snickering Ryou.

 

“Riding you up a pole, holy shit, you still seem to have Marik on the mind.” Ryou laughed under his breath and the angry spirit.

 

_ “Okay that's it if you make another crack about Marik and I’s nonexistent sexual history I will stop blocking the pain and you will suffer for your insolence host!” _ The pissed spirit snarled, making Ryou roll his eyes but shut up.

 

“Hey, Gloria was it? Why did you react so sadly at my hair? I get scared and curious but never sad.” Ryou curiously asked the girl next to him.

 

She kept staring at the fire for a few more seconds before sighing and mumbling “Well I guess there’s no reason to keep it a secret....my sister she had hair a similar color, but more silver....the egao got her...” her fingers dug into the fabric of her pants to not shake or choke up, showing no other weakness.

 

Ryou’s eyes widened in surprise, well damn, he wasn’t expecting that, in hindsight he really should have though. Not sure what to say he also looked at the fire gathering his thoughts before quietly saying “Well at least she’s still alive, there’s no way whatever is infecting everyone won’t be cured eventually, I’d say I’m sorry for your loss, but I know that doesn’t help.” 

 

Gloria looked at him a bit surprised “Well I suppose, The Professor is here and he’s smart, and if he can get Kaiba’s help maybe they could do something about it eventually...you lost someone didn’t you, your eyes...”

 

Staring at the cackling fire, Ryou pondered what to say, well if they are apparently going to bare there souls to each other might as well not go halfway “Sister as well, her name was Amane, she died in a car accident more than 10 years ago. So when I say I know it won’t help I do mean I know.”

 

Gloria just kept staring at the fire as well, probably thinking of her own sister before speaking again “Grace, my sisters name is Grace, I’d do anything to swap places with her, she works with others better. God, I'm just useless without her, aren’t I?! Her head lowered, trying to hide the tears forming in her eyes

 

With a small chuckle Ryou turned to look at Gloria, noticing the tears anyway, “I thought the same thing for so many years, that I should have died instead of her, she was the friendly social one, I was the loner who liked magic and occult. Only recently have I found some friends that made me stop wishing I took her place. I hope they're safe”

 

The conversation stopped at that point, just silently enjoyed the company of another who understands them in a way few others could. Gloria seemed to be thinking over what Ryou said and she seemed a bit more hopeful despite her words. Ryou was happy at that, and he settled down to take nap, drifting off as he saw Marik enter the cave holding something.

_ “You always did have that odd ability to connect to people host, for better or for worse. False hope and morbid optimism truly does have an odd effect, especially when you wield it with such ease... I wonder how it will come back to bite you this time.” _ The Spirit mused out loud, the only one who could hear him dead to the world in slumber.


	20. Chapter 20

Meanwhile in dungeons far away from the mountains in a castle, a now stitched up Reiji Akaba sat in a cell full of disturbing smiles, with horrific nightmare inducing smiling plushies and pillows strewn about, legs aching from the repeated stabbings from Yuya and then the painful, but surprisingly nearly professional, stitches. He rubbed his wet face, unable to stop the tears from falling and blurring his vision, he, the man with a plan, for once in his life, didn’t have a plan. All he knew is that this was entirely his fault, he could only hope that Ryou kid had gotten safely out, he didn’t blame the kid for leaving him in that room, there’s no way he would have been able to escape in that state anyway. 

 

All he could do was think in his new cell, alone except for the nearly catatonic curled up Reira. Oh Reira, Reira, Reira, he didn’t deserve to watch that, at all. He doesn’t deserve any of what’s happening, Who knows what this is doing to his already fragile mental state. He could only hope it was minimal damage, he didn’t think he could handle if Reira broke because of his failure. Shivering at the thought of his younger brother breaking he pulled the curled up boy into a tight hug, murmuring assurances as he began to think back to that fateful duel that had gone wrong, and how he eventually got caught by Yugo. 

 

He’d been watching the duel, it was the Friendship Cup and Yuya just had to beat this guy, but then something happened, the tells of berserk was starting, he wasn’t worried, as long as he stopped by the duels end nothing bad would happen besides perhaps Yuya freaking out, which is easily helped, besides, the crowds loved this stuff. The duel continued fine, but then he drew it. Smile World. Right as he played the card, most likely having Smile Potion set, berserk mode got worse and he screamed, it was inhuman, warped, it sounded like he was in pain, so much pain. Then, the opponent fell off his bike, screaming and clawing his face, the crowd freaked as well. several people also clawing at their faces, Yuya didn’t stop screaming and then he heard it, the moan that would haunt his nightmares: “Egaaaaaao....”

 

People's faces were morphing and he knew something terrible had happened, he grabbed Reira and bolted as the egao…  _ creatures _ started to attack people, commanding Tsukikage to get civilians out and to safety. The two of them traveled for days, noticing the area around them change as they walked, one moment they were in the city and the next moment there in some town that had not been by the city before. Something more was changing, Yuya had affected more than people.

 

He managed to get some supplies from a pair of twins and a girl with long red hair early on so they didn’t have to worry, they survived for a while, trading and scavenging while he planned, as the dimensional teleporters were no longer working for some damned reason. He hadn’t heard from Tsukikage in a while to add insult to injury, he feared the worst for him, he could only hope he was just one of those creatures, though perhaps it would be more merciful to hope his friend was dead. Then one day he heard that familiar D-Wheel that tricked him into thinking Yugo was here to help them....

 

He suddenly jerked out of his thoughts at the sounds of people, head whipping towards the sound, he could hear faint talking, it sounded like....Yuzu?! He stared at the door as Yuto pushed a silently crying Yuzu inside the room, he could hear Yuzu quietly speak, “I-I don’t blame you for this, Yuto, stay safe..” to the infected Yuto, and Reiji faintly wondered why they weren’t being infected, were they immune?

 

Yuto locked the door after doing a strange slight shiver at Yuzu’s words, and Yuzu looked around eyes almost immediately landing on Reiji and Reira. “Reiji! Reira! Oh thank the gods you’re alive!” 

 

Not even noticing the wounds she ran over to give them a tight hug, one Reiji happily accepted despite the pain, he didn’t completely fail, one lancer is at least alive and looking a lot better than he was! He didn’t doom all of them from his failure! More could be uninfected and surviving! He could feel hope flutter in his chest before he stamped it out, there was no reason to have hope anymore.

 

Yuzu sat down next to him and laid her head on him, taking comfort from his presence, not asking about the scars. They sat there silently in sorrow for what felt like an eternity before Reira managed to make himself crawl over to Yuzu to wipe her tears away and cuddle into her, breaking the dam she was holding back as Yuzu hugged and sobbed into him who just kept cuddling into her, and right then Reiji somehow knew everything might not all over, he has Reira and now Yuzu and maybe Yuya would bring more people. Deep in his heart he knew they would find a way to survive, they had survived everything else thrown at them after all. 

 

He smiled a tiny real smile as he felt the tinges of hope return again, perhaps there were still things he could do. Perhaps he wasn’t useless now. He cleaned his glasses of tears with his scarf, before placing them back on, a determined look on his face. 

 

He shakingly stood up and began to pace so he could think, rubbing his chin, ignoring the pain. He would be strong, he would think, he was the man with the plan, and he refused to just accept there's nothing he could do, there was always a plan that could be used. He would get them out, he would stop Yuya, he just had to think. A smirk appearing on his face as the threads of a plan started to form, Yuya made a mistake leaving him with the others, he would get them all out of here. He would not be a failure. He refused to let a new plan fall through, not for his pride, but for Reira and the Lancers, they don’t deserve this hell for following him. 

  
He would succeed… but first he should probably sit down again, his legs are really starting to hurt.  _ Why did I think pacing was a good idea, again…? Not off to the greatest start in the thinking department, walking on recently stabbed legs, I'm just lucky I didn’t tear any stitches acting like a moron with no common sense. _


	21. Chapter 21

“Yusei!” Crow gasped, whipping around to see his friend, running towards him, “You’re alive!” Yusei stopped to stand in front of Crow, a smile on his face.

 

“Hey, don’t seem so surprised!” Yusei tells him, “Not just anything can kill me, you should know that by now.” Crow let out a laugh, shaking a little in surprise and joy. 

 

“Hah! Like I am, a situation like this just makes you think worst case scenario, y’know?” 

 

“True, true.” Yusei admitted. “Anyway, has anyone else come through here we know?” Crow shook his head with a disappointed expression, causing Yusei to sigh. “Well, at the very least, we’re both here. That means that Jack and Aki must be around, plus, they were never really big smilers. They must be fine.” Crow snickered and nodded in agreement.

 

“True, true. I could never picture Jack with one of those disc-faces…” Crow let out a laugh laced with a tinge of uncertainty. “Anyway. You’re gonna stick around here, right? You’d be a big help!” 

 

“Ah…?” Yusei’s gaze averted to look at the wall. “Well… I wouldn’t want to use up your surely limited food and supplies. As long as I have my runner, I should be able to get it on my own…” Yusei noticed Crow’s now sad face, and sighed. “If you really, really want me to stay, i did bring my own rations, so, if it’s only for a while…” Crow cheered.

 

“Hell yeah!” He yelled, throwing up his arms and dancing around a little. 

 

“Crow, you have to think about the others here, not just those you’re friends with.” Yusei scolded him, and he stilled. “When you brought them here, they became your responsibility.”

 

“Well, yeah. Duh. I still think we could provide for you.” 

 

“Even so…” Yusei mumbled.

 

“Don’t worry about it, here, you can sleep in my bag for today!” Crow happily told Yusei, and Yusei gave a tired looking smile. 

 

“That sounds… wonderful.” Yusei said, rubbing his eye a bit. Yusei gave a noise of surprise as he was quite violently pulled from his spot on the ground, standing perfectly still and not moving at an increased pace. That was nice. Yusei had been moving all day, he preferred not moving, on this rare occasion.

 

“And this!-” Crow’s hand waved at a large cave entrance, a room with a few people, a crappy wood plank of a table and a lame fire pit in it. “This is the place where some people sleep, but mostly it’s where we put food!” He exclaimed, drawing the attention of someone with brown hair and a dead-looking face Yusei swore he’d seen before, who was looking over their deck on the makeshift table. 

 

“Oh. Interesti-” Yusei started, now being dragged off again. 

 

“Over in the direction, you will see, we have a lot of sleeping bags on the floor!” Crow practically yelled, making a few more people, including Ryou who had his ankle propped up, it looked swollen making Yusei wondered when he sprained it, around look at him weirdly.

 

“Looks kind of uncomfortable.” 

 

“It is!” Crow laughed, “But at least it’s not just sleeping on cold stone floors!”

 

Yusei shrugged. “Well, that’s fair.” He pulled his arm away from Crow’s, found his way to a sleeping bag, and promptly fell on it, sleep taking him almost immediately.

 

* * *

 

Seto watched confusedly as Crow led around a new person who had weird hair, while it was nothing on Yugi’s level, there was no way that was natural no matter what Yugi says, it was definitely an oddity. They also seem to know Crow, weird. He considered just asking Crow, but at the way his face heated up a little at that idea and the fact it was the evil known as socializing made him quickly discard that idea. 

 

He watched the strange person fall onto a sleeping bag and almost immediately, Seto figured he was probably just exhausted he couldn’t help feel a small tinge of jealously that they could fall asleep so fast, why couldn’t he do that? With a small sigh he he considered getting up, if he didn’t ask the curiosity would consume him, and if he did ask it would mean actually talking to him, what a lose-lose....

 

Unsure what to do and deciding to not actually stand up he turned back to his cards, Battle city felt so long ago even if it had been at most maybe a week, he sorted his cards dutifully, checking for any damage. He regretted not being able to grab more cards than his deck, editing his deck would definitely help take his mind off things. 

 

_ Battle Ox, Dark Gremlin, Card Guard, Thunder Dragon, Ring of Destruction, Blue Eyes White Dragon... _

 

Seto gave a small smile at seeing the White Dragon,  __ just seeing his favorite and most treasured monster made him feel a bit better, at that thought Seto was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea, while he would need Ryou’s help  _ as much as he loathed the thought _ , but, all he needed was to get Ryou to take him down to the city, then he could gather a bunch of duel disks and get some dueling in here to pass time. And he could summon his perfect Blue Eyes again!  

 

_ It was the perfect idea.  _

 

Seto gathered up his cards and put them back, heading towards Ryou who was still laying by the fire, apparently he sprained his ankle, weak. 

 

Ryou looked up to him in a bit of surprise “Kaiba? Do you need something, because I’m kinda married to this fire right now.” 

 

Seto deadpanned. “What a harmonious union, let's skip your failed attempts at making jokes and get to the point.”

 

With a small pout Ryou replied “Stick still up there as far as ever I see. What do you need Kaiba?”

 

“I need you to take me down to the city when your ankle is done being pathetic” Seto bluntly said.

 

Ryou snorted “ _ You  _ want to go back to the city? Not only do you not know if you’re immune, it's riddled with danger and  _ apparently _ Egaos take prisoners. Who knew?”

 

Seto felt his temper starting to rise at the seeming dismissal “Well, either you take me or I go alone, I have a very good reason after all.”

 

With a raised eyebrow Ryou calmly asked “Good reason? Goodie, care to share it with the class?”

 

With a glare at the sarcastic comment Seto forced his voice to stay calm “I need to gather duel disks.” 

 

Laughter bubbled out of Ryou “You.. you want to face death and egaos just to gather...  _ duel disks _ !? You know what? There’s no way I can stop you outside of telling Crow or Marik, so when I’m healed I’ll take you since there’s no way you're surviving on your own-” A dangerous glint in Ryou’s eyes “-however, I will  _ not  _ babysit you, if you fuck up that's your fault, I’m not going to risk my safety because you were an arrogant idiot.” 

 

Seto paled a tiny bit at the mention of him telling Crow or god forbid, _Marik,_ he did not want to relive that earlier...experience. He relaxed a bit as Ryou said he will take him. “I’m Seto Kaiba, I don't _need_ to be babied, I’ll be completely fine! I just need you to help me get there. I could probably navigate the city blindfolded and be completely fine.” Internally cringing at how once again he let his big mouth run too far again, he really hoped he didn’t just lose Ryou’s reluctant help. He really was such a horrible excuse of a-

 

Ryou interrupted his spiralling with a snicker that made Seto snap back to attention “If you say so. Don’t blame me if I have to kill you because you went Egao.” 

 

Seto could swear Ryou’s eyes were a bit different than before and he repressed a small shiver at Ryou’s casually mentioning killing him. “I won’t, because I won’t turn.” 

  
With that, Seto stalked away, mostly to not say something else counter productive again, and because Ryou was confusing and exhausting. He could only hope he could live up to his boastings...


	22. Chapter 22

As he watched Seto stalk away arrogantly, Ryou sighed. If Seto wanted to brave the dangerous wasteland that used to be Domino City for _ fucking duel disks _ , that was up to him. Ryou could not even begin to comprehend the logic behind that, but if Seto really wanted to walk into his demise, good for him.

 

_ “My, my, you're being rather morbid today, you just plan on leaving your poor friend to the egao, or even kill him? How sadistic; you’ve just keep filling me with so much pride lately! First being a thief, to wanting to complete a heist, to being sadistic to those you deem lesser!”  _ The spirit practically purred _ “Maybe you finally won't always be a passive doormat anymore!”  _ He gleefully finished with a sharp laugh, not bothering to actually appear.

 

“If I was really a doormat, I would have just let you do whatever you want. Also, I'm not being sadistic, I'm being a realist, I'd rather one of us survive instead of both of us going down.” Ryou grumbled under his breath, deadpanning at a wall.

 

_ “Eh same thing really; aaaanyways! I'm bored, host! I wanna mess with people! Cause some chaos! Anything!”  _ The spirit complained to their annoyed host.

 

With a small sigh, Ryou quickly thought up an idea to get the spirit out of his hair for a bit, “How about a challenge then, since we can't really move. I'm curious about why we aren't infected, I think it has something to do with the ring, as usual.”

 

_ “Of course it has to do with my Millennium Ring!”  _ The spirit said cockily,  _ “Though I must begrudgingly admit you have a slight point about your dismal personality stalling the magic. What's your challenge, host?” _ He finished a bit lacklusterly.

 

“It's simple, really. See if you can apply whatever is keeping us not infected to another object, so whoever holds that is immune.” Ryou said, deciding to use the spirit’s boredom for good.

 

That earned an amused chuckle from the spirit,  _ “My, host, you truly are an inventive one. What do I win if I successfully do it and what's my time frame? What do I lose if I fail?” _

 

Having no actual idea for the rules of the challenge, Ryou blurted out the first things that came to mind. “It's until my ankle is healed, and I'll… I’ll listen to you more! You're always complaining about that! Fail, and you have to, uh, kiss Yugi's hand and not get to say it's because of a debt!” 

 

_ “Also getting sick with tomb fever? Alright, I'll take your silly little bet, I'll teach you to not underestimate your betters! Do remember I need to be in control for this, though. I don't want to hear you complaining, host.”  _ The spirit pointed out smugly.

 

Ryou laughed a bit, “First of all, it's cabin fever, did Marik teach you that one? Second, my only condition to you being let out is that you don't make yourself too much of a pest. Just get it done.”

 

_ “You want to protect Seto more, don't you? Well, I won't waste my breath to tell you all the reasons that's stupid!”  _ cackled the spirit, before he suddenly shoved himself into control of the body.

 

Bakura blinked, rolling his shoulders and stretching.  _ I didn't realize host was so stiff, what a pain... Fucking ankle, fucking clumsy host...”   _ Looking to his side, he saw Ryou projecting himself next to him, quietly observing. Giving his host a toothy grin that got an eye roll in response he picked up a nearby pebble and rolled it over in his hands, thinking on where to start. He actually was just bored, he knew the bet was rushedly thought up lopsided, he knew listen didn't mean obey. Though the confused suspicious look Yugi would give him if he lost was almost worth throwing the bet to just dick around.... Almost.

 

Stilling the pebble, he sized it up, the simplest way but stupidest way would most likely be sealing the tiniest shard of his soul in it. Of course, that would also weaken him and make him lose parts of his soul so that was obviously out, why did he even think it up again? Perhaps his shadow magic could do it? The problem with that was he didn't know how much shadow magic it would take to overpower the strong egao magic. and too much shadow magic in such a tiny object could have some.... strange effects, so that was also out.

 

Tapping his chin, he observed the pebble more as he closed his eyes, trying to remember the feeling of the castle, perhaps if he could try and get the tiniest grasp or understanding of egao magic, he could twist it into a rudimentary shield, if not a cure.  _ Ha! Imagine The Pharaoh’s face to me being the cherished hero!”  _ He smugly thought before he took a deep breath and began meditation, he was the shadows, and the shadows could overpower and consume all, especially a lame mind control smile and fake happiness based magic, it would crumple like sand paper before his power.   


  
Grinning with his eyes closed, Bakura suddenly swore as he felt the pebble in his hand explode and a small rush of shadow magic "Son of a dog!" he quietly cursed. As he opened his eyes to stare at the damage, he frowned and started to pick the shrapnel out of his hand, scowling at the snickering Ryou, as he silently cursed himself for letting his magic get a bit away from him as he meditated and accidentally pumped the pebble full of shadows.

 

A few minutes later his hand was clean and only slightly bleeding. Smiling a touch in accomplishment, he wiped the blood on his stained shirt as he picked up another pebble in his other hand and began meditation again,  _ Lets see... the aura in the castle was oppressive, draining and depressing, yet peppy and excitable, like a demonic puppy... hmm... the aura on the egao themselves was like a suction of positivity, as if trying to use others joy to fill the void of joy. If I can find the right mindset to touch the magic, I win! _

 

Taking a deep breath he kept meditating, ignoring the slight jingling of the Ring reacting to his searching. He kept focusing, thinking of forced happiness and all the times he had to put up a cheery front to pose as Ryou. He felt he could almost feel a weak thread for a second, so weak Bakura almost didn’t notice, but as soon as it came it was gone. When he couldn’t grab the thread again he opened his eyes, annoyed. Then he blinked and looked around the shadowy cave, silent except for the crackling of the fire and soft breathing of tired or people sleeping huddled close for the most part under coats or spare clothing. He quietly murmured to himself “When did it get so late out...”

 

_ You’ve been asleep for a few hours, the sun has almost set. Good job on not making more things after that pebble explode I guess.”  _ His ever sarcastic host answered sarcastically.

 

“I was not sleeping, I was meditating, you moron.” Bakura grumbled “I made some great progress as well host, I believe this bet will be beaten rather quickly.”

 

_ “Somehow I really doubt that...” _


End file.
